Intermediate Goods Account for Lion's Share of Imports

Iran imported close to 29.3 million tons of intermediate goods worth more than $28.02 billion in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2017, according to the latest report released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.

Intermediate goods accounted for 87.6% and 64.2% of all Iranian imports during the period in terms of weight and value respectively.

An intermediate good is a product utilized to produce a final good or finished product. These goods are sold between industries for resale or for the production of other goods. Examples include steel, wood, glass, gold and silver.

These were followed by capital goods, the imports of which amounted to over 820,000 tons worth $8.52 billion, making up 2.46% and 19.5% of all of last year's imports in tonnage and value respectively.

Capital goods are tangible assets such as buildings, machinery, equipment, vehicles and tools that an organization uses to produce goods or services to produce consumer goods and goods for other businesses.

The report published on IRICA's website also shows that during the same period, more than 3.3 million tons of consumer goods worth $7.13 billion were imported into Iran, accounting for 9.9% and 16.3% of the volume and value of all imports during the period respectively.

Consumer goods are purchased for consumption by the average consumer. Alternatively called final goods, consumer goods are the end result of production and manufacturing, and are what a consumer will see on the store shelf. Clothing, food and jewelry are all examples of consumer goods.

Iran imported $43.684 billion worth of goods during the last fiscal year, marking a 5.16% growth compared to the previous year. Field corn, soybean, cars, auto parts and rice were Iran’s main imports in the last fiscal year.

Major exporters to Iran during the period included China with $10.73 billion worth of exports to Iran, the UAE with $6.4 billion, South Korea with $3.46 billion, Turkey with $2.73 billion and Germany with $2.53 billion.