TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s non-oil exports rose 38 percent during the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2021-January 20, 2022), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Speaking to the press in a ceremony on the occasion of International Customs Day, on Tuesday, Alireza Moghadasi said Iran exported over 100 million tons of non-oil products worth $38.763 billion in the mentioned period, IRNA reported.

According to Moghadasi, the weight of exports in the mentioned period also grew by seven percent in comparison to the figure for the previous fiscal year’s same 10 months.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China, Iraq, and Turkey during the said 10 months.

The IRICA head further announced that the Islamic Republic imported 33 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $41.473 billion in the mentioned period, with a 34-percent growth in value and a 17-percent rise in weight, year on year.

The United Arab Emirates was the top exporter to Iran in the said period, followed by China, Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland, he stated.

According to the official, out of the total non-oil goods imported into the country in the first 10 months of this year, 25 million tons worth $15 billion were basic goods, which indicates an increase of 26 percent in weight and 56 percent in value, year on year.

Moghadasi noted that currently about five million tons of commodities are stored at the country’s customs for which the clearance procedures will be carried out soon.

“There are 160 customs active in the country, and this number is increasing with the creation of new free zones and economic areas,” he added.

IRICA has previously announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73 billion in the past Iranian calendar year.

IRICA former Head Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi had put the weight of non-oil trade at 146.4 million tons and said that the figure showed a 25-million-ton annual decline, which is the result of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.

Iran’s non-oil export was 112 million tons valued at $34.5 billion, and that of import was 34.4 million tons worth $38.5 billion in the past year, the official added.

Among the country’s non-oil export destinations, China was the first, with importing $8.9 billion worth of products, Iraq was the second with importing $7.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates the third with importing $4.6 billion, Turkey the fourth with importing $2.5 billion, and Afghanistan the fifth with importing $2.2 billion, Mir-Ashrafi announced, and named gasoline, natural gas, polyethylene, propane, and pistachio as Iran’s major exported products during the past year.

He further named Iran’s top sources of non-oil imports in the said time, as China with exporting $9.7 billion worth of products to the Islamic Republic, the UAE with $9.6 billion, Turkey with $4.3 billion, India with $2.1 billion, and Germany with $1.8 billion, respectively, and mentioned corn, cellphone, rice, oil meal, and oilseeds, wheat, and raw oil as the major imported items.

EF/MA

Photo: IRICA Head Alireza Moghadasi (C) speaks at a ceremony on the occasion of International Customs Day in Tehran on Tuesday