TEHRAN- The value of export from South Khorasan province in the east of Iran has risen 14 percent during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-Septemebr 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Saeed Beheshti-Rad, the head of Commerce Office of the province’s Industry, Mining and Trade Department, said that 564,000 tons of products worth $65 million were exported from South Khorasan in the first half of the present year, indicating 26 percent decline in terms of weight, as compared to the same time span of the previous year.

He named melon and watermelon, cement, ceramic tiles, distilled fuel oils, gas oil, bitumen, rebars and dates the main export items, and Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkmenistan the major export destinations.

The official further announced that 1,157 tons of products worth $380 million were imported to the province in the first half of this year, showing 27 percent growth as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

He named tile production line parts, accessories and parts related to rubber mine, alfalfa seeds, mangosteen, roasted hemp and basil seeds as the major imported items, and United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and Afghanistan as the main sources of imports.

As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 47 percent during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi said that Iran has traded 79.1 million tons of non-oil products worth $45 billion with other countries in the mentioned period.

The official put the six-month non-oil exports at 60 million tons valued at $21.8 billion, with a 61-percent rise in value and a 30-percent growth in weight.

The IRICA head mentioned liquefied natural gas, methanol, polyethylene, semi-finished iron products, iron ingots, propane, urea, gasoline, iron rods and cathodes as the main exported products in the said time span.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China with about 14.8 million tons worth $6.5 billion, Iraq with 13.9 million tons worth $3.8 billion, Turkey with 7.2 million tons worth $2.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 5.8 million tons worth $2.2 billion, and Afghanistan with 2.5 million tons worth $1.0 billion.

The official further announced that Iran has imported 19.1 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $23.1 billion in the first six months of the present year, with a 37-percent growth in value and a 15-percent rise in weight year on year.

Mir-Ashrafi named cellphones, livestock corn, sunflower oil, barley, meal, wheat, soybeans, sugar, palm oil, and rice as the main imported commodities.

The United Arab Emirates with 5.9 million tons of goods worth $7.3 billion was the top exporter to Iran in the said period, followed by China with 1.5 million tons of goods worth $5.0 billion, Turkey with 2.1 million tons worth $2.4 billion, and Switzerland with one million tons worth $900,000, the official stated.

According to the official, out of the total 19.1 million tons of goods imported into the country in the first six months of this year, 14.3 million worth $8.9 billion were basic goods, which constitutes 75 percent of the total imported goods.

The IRICA head has announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73 billion in the past Iranian calendar year.

Mir-Ashrafi has put the weight of non-oil trade at 146.4 million tons, and said that the figure shows a 25-million-ton annual decline, which is the result of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.

MA/MA