China, the Major Destination for Iran’s Exports
Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) says China is the most important destination for Iran’s exports, adding that the transit of goods from Iran’s land borders has grown by 95 percent.
Mehdi Mirashrafi said that Iran’s foreign trade in the first four months of the current year has improved and the statistics show growth both in imports and exports.
He said in the first four months, some 50.8m tons of goods worth $29b have been traded between Iran and other countries which show 21 percent growth in weight and 47 percent in value.
He added that the share of non-oil goods exports from Iran’s foreign trade is 38.3m tons worth of $14.3b which signals 27 percent growth in weight and 65 percent in value comparing to the same period last year.
Mirashrafi noted that China ranks first in Iran’s export destinations as Iran’s exports to this country in the first four months were around 10m tons worth of $4.3b while Iraq, the UAE, Turkey and Afghanistan have trailed China as the next major destinations for Iran’s exports.
Iran’s top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with over $3 billion worth of exports, Iraq with $2.406 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $1.554 billion, and Afghanistan with $871 million as well as Turkey with $513 million, so the country’s top five export destinations remained the same in comparison to previous months, according to IRICA.
"Iran’s imports in the same period were 12.5m tons worth of $14.5b which shows 5 percent growth in terms of weight and 32 percent in terms of value."
He went on to say that the UAE has been the major exporter to Iran in the same period as the country has exported 4m tons of goods worth of $4.7b and China has trailed the UAE with exporting one million tons of goods worth $3.1m.
According to Mirashrafi, the significant increase in the value of trade indicates that the negative impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on Iran’s foreign trade has alleviated.
“The impact of the pandemic on Iran’s trade has decreased from 54 percent in late March to 27 percent in August,” he said.
He also said that the transit of goods from Iran’s land borders has improved in the same period as some 3.753m tons of goods have been transited from the country’s land borders which shows 95 percent growth comparing to the same period last year.
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