Customs revenues reached 160 trillion rials (over $1 billion) in the last fiscal year (March 2019-20) just as it was projected in the budget law, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration said.
Mehdi Mirashrafi added that one of the measures that played a significant role in boosting production in the year ending March 19, 2020, was duty exemptions.
According to the official, 45 trillion rials ($290 million) worth of duty exemptions on machinery import were granted to manufacturers last year to help reduce production costs.
Over 60 trillion rials ($384.61 million) worth of duty exemptions have been considered for the current year (March 2020-21) as well, Fars News Agency quoted him as saying.
“Iran’s non-oil foreign trade stood at $85 billion in the fiscal 2019-20, of which exports accounted for $41.3 billion and imports for $43.7 billion,” Mirashrafi said earlier this year.
Oil-based products and byproducts as well as petrochemical products are included in IRICA's non-oil export data. In fact, petrochemicals and gas condensates constitute the biggest share of exports.
Noting that Iran traded over 169 million tons of goods last year, the official said exports weighed 133.9 million tons—three times as much as imports in terms of weight and about 13.5% more than the previous year. In terms of value, however, exports show a 7% decline year-on-year.
“Imports reached 35.3 million tons in the fiscal 2019-20, indicating a 9.3% growth year-on-year. However, a $2.4-billion trade deficit was registered for the country during the period. Raw materials, machinery and intermediate goods accounted for 85% of the imports,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“Petrochemicals made up the lion’s share of exports, which indicates that the country is moving from being dependent on selling unprocessed goods toward exporting petroleum products.”
However, the IRICA chief noted that each ton of Iran’s imports was valued at $1,220 while each ton of exports was worth only $309, which indicates that the export of unprocessed goods remains a challenge for Iran’s economy.
“China was Iran’s main export destination, as it purchased $9.5 billion worth of non-oil goods from us last year, followed by Iraq with $8.9 billion, Turkey with $5.4 billion, the UAE with $4.5 billion and Afghanistan with $2.3 billion. Our top five partners in exports were Asian countries and mostly neighbors. Other countries imported $10.9 billion worth of Iran’s non-oil goods last year,” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Mirashrafi said China was Iran’s top trading partner in terms of imports as well.
“The Asian country sold $11.2 billion worth of non-oil goods to Iran last year. The UAE with $8.9 billion, Turkey $4.9 billion, India $3.6 billion and Germany with $2.1 billion worth of exports to Iran were Iran’s other key trading partners in imports," he added.
The imports chiefly included materials used in the sectors of manufacturing, livestock feed, essential goods, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
Last year’s imports of livestock feed and essential goods were 3 million tons more compared with the year before.
According to IRICA, intermediate goods worth $29.7 billion and capital goods worth $5.9 billion were imported into the country last year. Consumer goods constituted 8% of total imports last year.
Essential goods’ imports have taken center-stage amid unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States. The spread of the new coronavirus has also exacerbated the need for these goods.
A total of 25.09 million tons of essential goods worth close to $15.5 billion were imported into Iran during the last fiscal year (March 2019-20) to register a 20.77% and 17.13% increase in weight and value respectively, compared with the year before, according to the Spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs administration Rouhollah Latifi.
The volume of essential goods’ imports accounted for close to 71% and 35% of the volume and value of last year’s total imports respectively, the official was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Latifi noted that imported essential commodities included wheat, sugar, corn, rubber, barley, processed tea, rice, seeds, red meat, soybeans, pulses, paper, chemical fertilizers and industrial machinery.
Also known as necessity goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
