Iran’s trade balance was positive in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2015-March 19, 2016), registering a surplus of $916 million, according to the latest report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
A total of $42.41 billion worth of goods were exported during the period, posting a 16.11% decline compared with the previous year’s corresponding data.
Meanwhile, imports stood at $41.49 billion, which registered a 22.53% decrease.
Figures also show that exports and imports reached 93.52 million tons and 35.07 million tons respectively, registering a 7.18% and 18.47% decline compared with the preceding year’s corresponding figure.
The average price of a ton of exported goods rose 1.22% to stand at $461, whereas the price of a ton of imported commodities averaged at $1,183, posting a 5% drop. This show a rise in imports of raw materials to the country.
The 52.42% decrease in the export of natural gas condensates had a significant impact on the decline of non-oil exports.
The export of petrochemicals and other goods saw a slight drop of 2%. Exports chiefly included petroleum gases and hydrocarbons (4.4% of total exports), liquefied propane (3.98%) and bitumen (3.47%).
Imports mostly comprised field corn (3.39% of the total imports), wheat (2.09%), soybean (1.75%), rice (1.64%) and soybean meal (1.62%).
China, Iraq, the UAE, Afghanistan and India were the main export destinations.
Last Iranian year saw the share of the UAE and Afghanistan from Iranian goods increase, although China’s imports from Iran registered a more than 23% decrease compared to the year ending March 20, 2015.
Main exporting countries to Iran were China, the UAE, South Korea, Turkey and Switzerland while the import of Chinese goods showed an 18% decline. Figures also show that Switzerland’s share of Iran trade rose by 5% whereas the UAE’s economic exchanges of importing commodities fell by 36%.
Auto imports registered a 42.8% decline last year to reach $1.23 billion. The number of imported passenger cars dropped from 103,918 in the year ending March 20, 2015, to 51,522 last year, thanks to the ban on the import of cars with an engine displacement of over 2500 cc.
