TEHRAN – The value of export from Bushehr province, in the southwest of Iran, doubled in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Ali Soleymani, the director-general of the customs department of Busher city (center of the province), said that over 7.4 million tons of products worth over $4 billion were exported from Bushehr province in the said three-month period, indicating also 20 percent growth in terms of weight.

He said the main exported goods include petrochemical products, minerals, fisheries and vegetables, which have been exported to China, United Arab Emirates, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique, Turkey, Ivory Coast and Pakistan.

The official further announced that 161,000 tons of commodities worth over $790 million were imported to the province in the first quarter of the present year, showing 201 percent growth in terms of value, and 40 percent rise in terms of weight, as compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

He named rice, nuclear power plant parts, fabrics, and rubber as the main imported items, and China, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Thailand, India, Philippines, Japan, and Turkey as the sources of imports.

As previously announced by Behrouz Qarehbeygi, the director-general of the province’s customs department, the value of export from Bushehr province rose 67 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), from its preceding year.

He put the value of export from the province at $10.136 billion in the past year, and the weight of exported commodities, including gas condensate, at 25.78 million tons, with six percent growth year on year.

The official further announced that 25.506 million tons of non-oil goods, excluding gas condensate, worth $9.9 billion were exported from Bushehr province in the previous year, showing 73 percent and six percent annual rise in terms of value and weight, respectively.

He named petrochemical products, gas condensate, minerals, fisheries, and vegetables as the main exported items, and China, the United Arab Emirates, India, Pakistan, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, Mozambique and Qatar as the major export destinations of the province’s products in the past year.

As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $13.69 billion in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 21 percent compared to the last year’s same period.

Alireza Moghadasi said Iran exported 27.7 million tons of non-oil commodities in the mentioned three months.

Meanwhile, some 8.154 million tons of goods valued at $12.464 billion were imported into the country in the said period to register an 18-percent rise in terms of value compared to the last year’s same quarter.

In total, the Islamic Republic traded about 36 million tons of non-oil goods worth $25.5 billion with its trade partners in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, up 19.5 percent in terms of value, Moghadasi said.

According to the official, the country’s trade balance was $605 million positive in the mentioned time span.

Iran's top export destination during this period was China with $4.214 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $1.824 billion, Turkey with $1.737 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $1.645 billion, and India with $424 million.

Meanwhile, the country’s top five sources of imports during these three months were the UAE with $3.426 billion, China with $3.131 billion, Turkey with $1.273 billion, India with $512 million, and Germany with $456 million worth of imports.

As previously announced by the IRICA head, the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 38 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), as compared to its previous year.

Moqadasi put the country’s non-oil trade at 162 million tons worth $100 billion in the past year.

He said that Iran exported 122 million tons of non-oil products worth $48 billion in the previous year, which was $14 billion (41 percent) more than the figure for its preceding year.

The country's non-oil trade record in 1400 was reached while the toughest sanctions were imposed on Iran, but thanks to God and the efforts of entrepreneurs, producers and the cooperation of foreign trade-related organizations, a historical record was achieved in the past year which was unprecedented in recent decades, the official has underlined.

MA/MA