Iran’s Non-oil Exports Exceed $33b

Tehran, Feb 22, IRNA – A senior trade official has said that some $33.77 billion worth of non-oil goods were exported in the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2013). Deputy head of the Industries, Mines and Trade Organization for foreign trade promotion Houshang Rezaei Samarein said the figure indicates a 2.5-percent growth in terms of value compared with the corresponding figure of last year. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the English-language newspaper Iran Daily, the official said last year’s figure amounted to $34.75 billion. During the period, Samarein said the country’s imports amounted to $37.59 billion that showed a 14-percent decline compared with the figure for the same period of previous year ($32.97 billion). “Despite the intensification of Western sanctions against Iran in the past six months, the country exported 3,000 items to 354 countries,” he said. The official added the main destinations for Iran’s exported goods were China, Iraq, the UAE, India and Afghanistan. Samarein also said that during March 21, 2013-Jan. 20, 2014, China ranked first among importers of Iranian products by purchasing $5.9 billion worth of goods. The country had imported $4.4 billion worth of products from Iran last year. He added Iraq ($4.79 billion), the UAE, India and Afghanistan ($2 billion) ranked second to fifth respectively among top importers of the Iranian goods. Samarein noted during the same period, some 25 percent of Iran’s total exports were sent to China. He noted Afghanistan’s last year imports from Iran were 16 percent higher than those of the current year, which amounted to $2.38 billion. The official listed major export items as iron ore ($1.1 billion), methanol ($1.97 billion), urea ($906 million) and tar ($906 million). “In the first 10 months of the current year, Iran also exported $261 million and $201 million to Russia and Venezuela, respectively,” he said. Venezuela is Iran’s top trade partner in South America. Samarein said that the Tehran province with $6.16 billion accounted for the major portion of non-oil exports in the same period. “Other top exporters included Bushehr province ($5.7 billion), Khuzestan province ($3.25 billion), Isfahan province ($1.67 billion) and Khorassan Razavi province ($1.56 billion),” he concluded./end