Non-oil exports, including gas condensates, during the first month of the current Iranian year, Farvardin (March 20-April 19), rose by 7.91% compared with the corresponding period of last year to reach $3 billion. Imports stood at $1.98 billion, indicating a 0.07% growth.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, as reported by our sister publication Donya-e-Eqtesad, the unprecedented positive trade balance registered in the last Iranian year (ended March 19), remained so in Farvardin and hovered around $1.27 billion.
This is mainly thanks to the export of 6.83 million tons of petrochemicals, which shows a 7.65% rise. The latest data by IRICA also show that Germany has joined the ranks of Iran’s major trade partners.
A $916 million trade surplus was registered last year, marking Iran’s first-ever positive trade balance since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A total of $42.41 billion worth of goods were exported, posting a 16.11% decline compared with the previous year’s corresponding data. Imports stood at $41.49 billion, showing a 22.53% decrease.
Main Exports, Destinations
Major exports during the period included gas condensates worth $545 million (accounting for 18.12% of the total), liquefied petroleum gases and hydrocarbons worth $135 million (4.49%), liquefied propane worth $132 million (4.39%) and bitumen worth $92 million (3.06%).
China, the UAE, Iraq, South Korea and India were Iran’s top export destinations in a descending order. Exporters shipped $797 million worth of goods to China, which accounted for around 27% of Iran’s total exports.
Main Imports, Origins
Imports mostly comprised soybean ($87 million or 4.41% of the total imports), field corn ($59 million or 3%), barley, excluding seeds ($54 million or 2.74%), wheat ($46 million or 2.34%) and soybean meal ($40 million or 2.03%).
China, the UAE, Turkey, Germany and India were the top exporting countries to Iran in a descending order. China exported $383 million worth of goods to Iran, which shows a decline of 16%. Chinese share from Iran’s market was 19%.
Iran imported $113 million worth of commodities from Germany, marking a rise of 8%. Germany constituted 6% of Iran’s market.
Automobile imports posted a growth of 165% as more than 1,694 passenger cars worth $40.8 million entered the country in Farvardin.
