Iran’s Non-Oil Trade Exceeds $76b

Iran’s non-oil trade during the 11 months of the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2016) amounted to $76.9 billion, indicating a 1.8% increase compared with the corresponding period of last year. 

According to the latest report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Iran exported $38.49 billion worth of non-oil commodities during the period, registering a 0.21% rise compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In return, the country imported $38.41 billion worth of goods–up 3.47% year-on-year. 

The figures point to a $77 million surplus in Iran’s international trade balance for the 11 months to February 18, 2017.

IRICA’s data put the weight of exports and imports during the period at 111.81 million and 30 million tons respectively, indicating a 32.49% increase and a 3.97% decrease respectively. 

Gas condensates were Iran’s main exported commodity ($6.57 billion), making up for 17.07% of the total non-oil export figure. This was followed by natural liquefied gases ($1.95 billion), light crude oil, excluding gasoline ($1.36 billion), petroleum gases, liquefied hydrocarbons ($1.1 billion) and liquefied propane ($1.07 billion).

The imported commodities mainly included field corn ($1.3 billion), soybean ($848 million), auto parts ($730 million), motor vehicles with engine displacement of 1,500-2,000cc ($705 million) and motor vehicles with engine displacement of 2,000-2,500cc ($572 million). 

China was the main customer of Iranian products, as Iran exported $7.29 billion worth of non-oil goods to the Asian country during the period, up 6.91% compared with last year’s similar period. 

Other major export destinations included the UAE with $6.14 billion, Iraq with $5.51 billion, Turkey with $2.95 billion and South Korea with $2.69 billion worth of Iranian goods. 

Major exporters to Iran included China ($9.37 billion), the UAE ($5.79 billion), South Korea ($3.27 billion), Turkey ($2.38 billion) and Germany ($2.17 billion). Imports from the UAE, South Korea and Turkey fell by 15.02%, 9.57% and 10.99% respectively.

However, imports from China and Germany experienced a 0.09% and 36.3% growth year-on-year.