TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s non-oil trade reached $54.6 billion in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-May 21), according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Iran exported 23.5 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $8.0 billion in the mentioned two months, registering 3.77 percent and 8.54 percent increase in terms of value and weight, respectively, IRIB reported.

Meanwhile, some 5.8 million tons of goods valued at $9.1 billion were imported into the country in the said period, indicating a 9.19 percent rise in terms of value, and a 13.29 percent increase in terms of weight, year on year.

Iran's top export destination during this period was China with $2.193 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $1.584 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $1.08 billion, Turkey with $729 million, and Pakistan with $383 million.

Liquefied natural gas, liquid propane, and liquid butane were the top exported items in the said six months.

Meanwhile, the country’s top five sources of imports in the first two months of the current year were the UAE with $9.0 billion, China with $8.8 billion, Turkey with $3.3 billion, Germany with $1.1 billion, and India with $987 million worth of imports.

Corn, smartphones, soybeans, sunflower seed oil, and rice were the top imported items in the period under review.

As previously announced by IRICA, the value of Iran’s foreign trade including oil and technical engineering services reached $153.17.8 billion in the last Iranian calendar year 1402 (ended on March 19).

According to the IRICA Head Mohammad Rezvanifar, the value of the Islamic Republic’s trade with the partners in the previous year increased by 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The official put the country’s non-oil exports, excluding exports of electricity, crude oil, and techno-engineering services, at 136.4 million tons worth $49.33 billion which shows a 9.82 percent rise in terms of tonnage and an 8.87 percent decline in terms of value.

Iran exported $35.87 billion of crude oil, $370 million of electricity, and $1.293 billion of technical engineering services in the mentioned year, according to Rezvanifar.

According to him, during this period, 48.8 million tons of petrochemical products worth $19.4 billion were also exported, which shows a decrease of 11.32 percent and 28.59 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively.

During this period, liquefied natural gas with $3.9 billion, liquefied propane with $3.62 billion, and bitumen-oil with $2.19 billion were Iran’s top exported items.

Iran's top export destination during this period was China with $13.915 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $9.215 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $6.611 billion, Turkey with $4.16 billion, and India with $2.17 billion.

The official put the average customs value of each ton of exported goods at $362 which has decreased by 17 percent compared to the preceding year.

During this period, 39 million tons of goods worth $66.28 billion were also imported into the country, which shows an increase of 4.39 percent in terms of weight and 77.9 percent in terms of value, he said.

The country’s top five sources of imports in the previous year were the UAE with $20.782 billion, China with $18.545 billion, Turkey with $7.541 billion, Germany with $2.155 billion, and India with $1.917 billion worth of imports.

Corn, mobile phones, and gold ingots were the top three imported items followed by soybeans, automobile parts, sunflower seeds, and safflower were the five main items imported by the Islamic Republic.

Rezvanifar said the average customs value of each ton of imported goods increased by $5.16 and reached $1,697.

EF/