TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign trade reached 131.054 million tons worth $76.537 billion in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 22), according to data from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

The combined value of exports and imports declined 9.38 percent year-on-year, while total trade volume rose 1.53 percent, IRNA reported.

Exports amounted to 105.231 million tons valued at $36.997 billion, marking a 1.17 percent rise in volume and a 3.48 percent drop in value from the same period last year.

Imports reached 25.823 million tons worth $39.540 billion, showing a three percent increase in weight and a 14.29 percent decline in value.

Some of the growth in export volume appears tied to energy shortages in industrial and mining sectors, which left parts of production capacity idle and pushed some producers toward exporting raw materials such as iron concentrate and pellet.

Data from the Iranian Steel Association indicates that raw material exports have continued rising, with iron ore concentrate shipments up 82 percent compared to the first seven months of last year. Steelmakers have voiced concern that excessive raw material exports could tighten domestic supply for downstream production.

As previously announced by an IRICA official, Iran exported over 152 million tons of non-oil goods worth $57.8 billion in the past Iranian calendar year 1403 (ended on March 20).

This marked a 10 percent increase in volume and a 15.62 percent rise in value compared to the previous year, Abolfazl Akbarpour, the IRICA deputy head for planning and international affairs, stated.

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.

EF/MA