TEHRAN – The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said that in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21) the country exported $17.5 billion non-oil goods, registering an 8.0 percent growth, year on year.

Mohammad Rezvanifar put the total value of the country’s non-oil trade in the mentioned four months at $36 billion, IRIB reported.

According to the official, Iran imported $18.5 billion worth of non-oil products, about 6.0 percent less than the figure for the previous year’s corresponding period.

The country’s trade balance was $1.0 billion negative in the mentioned four months, indicating a significant decline compared to the previous year’s same period.

In the first four months of the previous Iranian year, the country’s export of non-oil goods stood at nearly $16 billion, while the imports during this period were about $19.5 billion. The trade balance of the country was negative $2.5 billion during this period.

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.

According to 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.

Based on IRICA data, 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/MA