A total of 850,500 tons of goods worth $349 million were exported from Iran to Iraq via Khosravi border terminal during the first five months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Aug. 22), registering a 65% and 59% year-on-year growth in weight and value respectively, according to Mehdi Abbasian, a local customs official.
During the same period, the volume of foreign goods transited from this border terminal registered a 128% and 246% YOY growth in weight and value respectively, IRNA reported.
Khosravi border terminal is located in the Qasr-e Shirin city of Kermanshah Province.
Earlier, Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi Shirazi said Iran’s total exports to Iraq during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22) registered an over 15% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
“There are three main reasons for the decline, with the main one being import restrictions set by Iraqi authorities,” he said.
“Every year, Iraq imposes a seasonal import ban on certain products with the aim of supporting its domestic production. These are mainly agricultural products. Usually, in the second half of the year when these restrictions are lifted, our exports to this western neighbor increase.”
The official noted that during the four months under review, Iran exported 6.93 million tons of goods to Iraq worth $2.39 billion.
“Another reason for the decline in exports to Iraq during the period is Iran’s inflation caused by the removal of import subsidies, which consequently increased the prices of exports,” he added.
Shirazi referred to the Central Bank of Iran’s mandate on exporters to sell their earnings to the government at lower rates compared to market prices, which discourages exporters.
“Other reasons include requiring traders to use the rial instead of dollar in their transactions and lastly the fact that Iraq’s oil revenues have increased, expanding the country’s import market. This has made many other countries enter the Iraqi market to rival Iranian exporters,” he said.
Around 73% of Iran’s tile and ceramic exports go to the neighboring Iraq, according to the head of the National Tile and Ceramic Producers Guild Association.
“This is both an opportunity and a threat to our exports. We plan to keep our foothold in the Iraqi market, but we also need to expand our export destinations. We are currently taking measures to include African countries in our export list,” Morteza Safdarizadeh was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
