TEHRAN – The value of Iran’s non-oil export rose 4.44 percent during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said.

According to Morteza Emadi, Iran exported 70.402 million tons of goods valued at $32.368 billion in the mentioned eight months, registering a 16-percent decline in weight, IRIB reported.

Liquefied propane, methanol, liquefied butane, polyethylene, bitumen, urea, liquefied natural gas, iron and steel ingots, and light oils were the main exported products in the said time span.

Major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and India, according to the official.

The Islamic Republic has also imported 23.405 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $37.116 billion in the first eight months of the present year, with a 15.25-percent growth in value and a 12.44-percent decrease in weight, year on year.

The first five items of goods imported into the country in the said period include corn, rice, wheat, soybeans, sunflower seed oil, cell phones, flour and unrefined sugar, according to Emadi.

The United Arab Emirates was the top exporter to Iran in the mentioned eight months, followed by China, Turkey, India, and Germany.

Reportedly, the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 10 percent during the mentioned period, as compared to the same eight months in the past year.

Iran traded 93.807 million tons of non-oil products worth $69.484 billion with other countries in the mentioned period.

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.

Alireza 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 the 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.

EF/MA