TEHRAN- As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), liquefied propane and natural gas were the major non-oil products Iran exported in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21–May 21).

Foroud Asgari said that among the major non-oil exports in the mentioned two-month period were liquefied propane ($643 million), natural gas ($455 million), liquefied butane ($452 million), petroleum bitumen ($419 million), and methanol ($388 million).

Petrochemical products accounted for 5.7 million tons valued at $2.22 billion, reflecting a four percent increase in volume and a three percent rise in value compared to the same period last year, he added.

According to the official, Iran exported 24.6 million tons of non-oil goods worth $8.24 billion in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year.

Asgari, who also serves as deputy economy minister, said the volume of exports rose by 4.4 percent year-on-year, although the total value saw a marginal decline of 0.11 percent. The average customs value of each exported ton fell by 4.3 percent to $335.

China remained Iran’s top export destination, receiving $2.43 billion worth of goods, followed by Iraq ($1.5 billion), the United Arab Emirates ($1.09 billion), Turkey ($673 million), Afghanistan ($374 million), Pakistan ($322 million), and Oman ($305 million).

Asgari also provided data on imports, which reached 5.9 million tons worth $8.47 billion in the same two-month period. While the import volume rose by 1.16 percent, the value dropped by 7.8 percent year-on-year.

The average value of imported goods stood at $1,431 per ton, down nine percent from the previous year.

Top imports included unrefined gold ($860 million), corn feed ($657 million), rice ($289 million), sunflower seed oil ($215 million), and soybeans ($211 million).

Iran’s main import partners were the UAE ($2.6 billion), China ($2.2 billion), Turkey ($1.37 billion), Germany ($308 million), India ($291 million), the Netherlands ($215 million), and Switzerland ($190 million).

As previously reported, Iran exported over 152 million tons of non-oil goods worth $57.8 billion in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2025.

This marked a 10 percent increase in volume and a 15.62 percent rise in value compared to the previous year, according to Abolfazl Akbarpour, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) for planning and international affairs.

Imports totaled 39.3 million tons valued at $72.4 billion, representing a 0.77 percent decline in weight but an 8.22 percent increase in value from the previous year. The result was a non-oil trade deficit of $14.6 billion, largely due to the import of over $8.0 billion worth of raw gold bars, which accounted for 11.12 percent of the total import value.

Iran’s main non-oil exports included natural gas, liquefied propane and butane, methanol, liquefied petroleum gases and hydrocarbon gases, and gas condensates.

Natural gas was the top export item, with an average customs value of $314 per ton.

Other leading exports were petroleum bitumen, urea, non-alloy iron and steel billets, iron or steel bars, and polyethylene.

The top destinations for Iran’s exports were China at $14.8 billion, Iraq at $11.9 billion, the United Arab Emirates at $7.2 billion, Turkey at $6.8 billion, Pakistan and Afghanistan at $2.4 billion each, and India at $1.9 billion. These seven countries accounted for $47.6 billion, or 82.3 percent of Iran’s total non-oil export value.

On the import side, essential goods such as corn feed, soybean meal, genetically modified soybeans, rice, and sunflower seed oil were among the top items. Other key imports included smartphones, tractors, and auto parts.

The UAE was Iran’s largest source of imports at $21.9 billion, followed by China at $19.3 billion, Turkey at $12.4 billion, Germany at $2.4 billion, India at $1.7 billion, Hong Kong at approximately $1.4 billion, and Russia at $1.3 billion. Together, these countries supplied goods worth $60.7 billion, or 83.8 percent of Iran’s total imports.

Akbarpour said the trade deficit could be largely attributed to the surge in gold imports, which on their own exceeded $8.0 billion.

MA