TEHRAN- Iran exported 1.06 million tons of commodities worth $341 million to Afghanistan during the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 20-May 20), Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) published on its website citing the data released by Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Exports from Iran to Afghanistan witnessed a 3.5-percent rise in tonnage and an eight percent decline in value compared to last year’s corresponding period.

According to IRICA, major commodities exported to Afghanistan during the period included fruit and vegetable, foodstuff, industrial goods, and construction materials.

Tomatoes topped the list of exports with over $26 million, followed by iron bars with $23 million.

Pastry and chocolates with $10.2 million, oil derivatives with $8 million, cream with $7.67 million, urea with $7.6 million, cement with $7.61 million, fruit juice with $6.5 million, watermelon with $6 million and apples with $5.8 million followed the list.

Notably, $850,000 worth of day-old chickens were exported to Afghanistan during the period. 

Trade continues despite coronavirus pandemic

Iranian border crossings of Milak, Mahiroud, and Dogharoun linking the country to Afghanistan are open for trade despite the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the chairman of the Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, Afghanistan has lifted all restrictions on the import of Iranian products that had been placed after the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Iranian truck drivers carrying goods to Afghanistan are easily granted entry visa, Hossein Salimi said.

The value of annual trade between the two countries stands at around $3 billion, he said.

As previously announced by the IRICA, the value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year stood at $9.341 billion.

Based on the IRICA data, in the mentioned period Iran imported $5.041 billion worth of goods, while exporting $4.3 billion.

The volume of traded goods was estimated at 21 million tons, of which 14.5 million tons were related to exports and about 6.5 million tons were imported goods.

Iran's top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with $1.19 billion worth of exports, Iraq with $1.107 billion, the UAE with $682 million, and Afghanistan with $341 million as well as Turkey with $144 million, so the country’s top five export destinations remained the same in comparison to previous months.

As reported, China accounted for over 27 percent of Iran’s total exports, followed by Iraq, UAE, Afghanistan, and Turkey with 25 percent, 15 percent, 8 percent, and four percent respectively.

The top five sources of imports during this period were China with $1.234 billion, the UAE with $1.78 billion, Turkey with $535 million, Russia with $356 million, and India with $335 million worth of imports.