Iran annually exports eight million tons of cement to Iraq, and exported more than 200,000 autos to Iraq over the past 10 years, a senior trade official told FNA on Friday.
“Iraq imports half the cement it needs from Iran,” Majid Qorbanifaraz, the official in charge of Iraq affairs at the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said.
Qorbanifaraz also rejected the possibility of losing the Iraqi cement market, a concern raised by some experts who say that Iraq is establishing cement plants of its own. The official said that Iraq needs 19 billion tons of cement each year, of which they produce some 10-12 billion tons and import the remaining from Iran.
Most Iraqi construction officials, however, prefer Iranian cement, because of its higher quality.
After-sale-services of Iranian cars also play a significant role in deriving customer satisfaction in auto sector, said Qorbanifaraz.
“We have established a broad network for providing after-sale products and services in Iraq’s auto sector.”
Earlier this year, Qorbanifaraz had pointed to the high volume of Iran’s exports to Iraq, saying that Iran’s non-oil exports to Iraq exceeded $5.2 billion in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2013-March 21, 2014).”
Iran and Iraq have enjoyed growing commercial ties ever since the overthrow of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2013.
