TEHRAN- The value of export from Zanjan province increased 45 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Zeyn-ul-abedin Ganj Khanlou, the director-general of the province’s customs department, said that commodities worth over $260 million were exported from the province in the five-month period.

He said that the five-month export also indicates eight percent growth in terms of weight.

He named zinc ingot, transformer and accessories, and steel ingot as the main exported products and Turkey, Iraq, and United Arab Emirates as the major export destinations.

The official further announced that commodities valued at $231.6 million were imported to the province in the first five months of this year, which was 31 percent more than the figure in the same time span of the past year.

The import shows 13 percent fall in terms of weight, he said.

He named zinc dust, wood pulp, recycled paper and cardboard, tobacco and tobacco pulp as the major imported products.

The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $20.924 billion in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 21 percent compared to the last year’s same period.

According to Alireza Moghadasi, Iran exported 44 million tons of non-oil commodities in the mentioned five months which was 3.5 percent less than the figure for the previous year’s same period.

Meanwhile, some 14 million tons of goods valued at $21.665 billion were imported into the country, indicating a 19-percent rise in terms of value compared to the last year’s same time span, he said.

The weight of the imported goods declined by 8.5 percent, year on year, the official added.

In total, the Islamic Republic traded about 58 million tons of non-oil goods worth $42.589 billion with its trade partners in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year, up about 23 percent in terms of value.

Iran's top export destinations during this period were China, Iraq, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and India, according to Moghadasi.

Liquid propane, methanol, liquefied natural gas, polyethylene, iron, and steel ingots were among the top exported items in the said five months.

The country’s top five sources of imports during these five months were the UAE, China, Turkey, India, and Russia.

MA/MA