TEHRAN- The value of exports from South Khorasan province, in the northeast of Iran, increased by 37 percent during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Hasan Rahimizadeh, the director-general of the province’s customs department, said that 149,667 tons of products worth over $28 million was exported from the province in the two-month period, which indicates also a 38-percent growth in terms of weight.

The official mentioned Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Pakistan as the export destinations of the products, and cement, ceramic tiles, rebar and dates as some of the exported items.

He also announced that 274 tons of commodities worth $531,719 were imported to the province during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year.

The value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $6.3 billion in the first two months of this Iranian calendar year, up 48 percent compared to the last year’s same period, according to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Iran exported 16.9 million tons of non-oil commodities including gasoline, polyethylene, methanol, iron and steel ingots and steel products to foreign destinations in the mentioned two months, Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi announced.

Meanwhile, some 5.3 million tons of goods valued at $6.5 billion were also imported into the country in the said period to register a 26.5-percent rise compared to the last year’s same two months.

In total, the Islamic Republic traded 22.2 million tons of such goods worth $12.8 billion with its trade partners in the period under review, up 6.6 percent and 38 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively, Mir-Ashrafi said.

Iran's top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with $2 billion worth of exports, Iraq with $953 million, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $849 million, Turkey with $388 million, and Afghanistan with $365 million.

According to the official, the mentioned five countries accounted for 68 percent and 73 percent of Iran’s total non-oil exports in terms of weight and value, respectively.

Meanwhile, the country’s top five sources of imports during these two months were the UAE with $1.8 billion, China with $1.5 billion, Turkey with $642 million, Germany with $285 million, and Switzerland with $283 million worth of imports.

Mobile phones, corn, sunflower oil, meal, wheat, soybeans, rice, barley, sugar and crude soybean oil were the most imported items during this period.

These 10 items accounted for 69.5 percent of the weight and 33 percent of the total value of imports, according to Mir-Ashrafi.

The official also noted that over 1.842 million tons of goods were transited through Iran in the said period, registering a 142-percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year.

The value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73 billion in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

According to Mir-Ashrafi, Iran’s non-oil export was 112 million tons valued at $34.5 billion, while that of import was 34.4 million tons worth $38.5 billion in the past year, the official added.

MA/MA