Iran’s foreign trade excluding crude oil exports stood at $6.73 billion in the first month of the new fiscal year (March 21-Apr. 20), according to the latest statistics released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
The report indicates that a $558 million surplus was registered in trade during the period.
Exports (excluding crude oil) hit 10.47 million tons worth $3.64 billion, registering a 12.93% fall in terms of tonnage, but a 17.76% rise in value year over year, the news portal of IRICA reported.
Liquefied natural gas with $523 million, liquefied propane with $302 million, liquefied butane with $169 million, ingots of unalloyed iron and steel with $167 million and methanol with $167 million were the main exported goods during the period.
China with $1.14 billion, Iraq with $609 million, Turkey with $550 million, the UAE with $320 million and India with $120 million were the top five export destinations. These countries accounted for 76% of the total weight and 75% of the total value of exports.
Imports stood at 1.82 million tons worth $3.08 billion, registering a 13% and 23.79% falls in weight and value respectively.
The main imported goods during the period were field corn with $223 million, soybeans with $152 million, white rice with $89 million, smartphones with $71 million and knocked-down parts for automobile production with $62 million.
The UAE with $1.01 billion, China with $873 million, Turkey with $353 million, Germany with $129 million and India with $110 million were the top exporters to Iran during the period. These five countries accounted for 74% of the total weight and 80% of the total value of imports.
Fiscal 2022-23 Trade in Review
Iran traded around 159.23 million tons of goods worth $112.82 billion (excluding crude oil exports) in fiscal 2022-23 (ended on March 20), according to Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Iranian House of Industry, Mine and Trade’s Trade Development Commission and former spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
He noted that the trade value increased by $11.38 billion compared with that of the previous year.
Iran’s exports, excluding crude oil, reached 122.56 million tons worth $53.16 billion during the period, registering a 10% rise in terms of value.
“This is a new record as the highest exports value was previously registered in fiscal 2014-15 with $50.56 billion,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
China with $14.58 billion was Iran’s main export destination during the period (unchanged), followed by Iraq with $10.23 billion (up 15%), Turkey with $7.45 billion (up 23%), the UAE with $5.76 billion (up 28%) and India with $2.14 billion (up 18%).
Imports stood at 37.18 million worth $59.65 billion, registering an 10% fall in terms of weight, but a 13% rise in value.
The UAE with $18.39 billion (up 11%) was the main exporter to Iran during the period. China with $15.74 billion (up 24%), Turkey with $6.09 billion (up 15%), India with $2.01 billion (up 80%) and Germany with $2.01 billion (up 5%) came next.
Latifi went on to say that 12.91 million tons of foreign goods were transited from Iran in the year under review to register a 2.2% rise.
“The highest volume of transit was registered in fiscal 2014-15 with 13.2 million tons of transit.”
According to Majid Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, the lion’s share of Iran’s foreign trade is with five countries, namely China, the UAE, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan.
“A limited number of trading partners is not a good idea for a country whose export destinations are limited. Each of these countries could become a risk if and when they get a bigger share of Iran’s trade and dominate,” he told the Persian daily Ta’adol.
“We are likely to get into trouble for whatever reason, including political issues, with these countries, each which account for more than 15% of our trade. All said, market diversity is a must for import and export. Now that Iran is under sanctions and cannot forge ties with Europe and the US, we need to concentrate on other markets, namely Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
