ROME The value of trade between Iran and its largest European trading partner, Italy, stood at $2.75 billion in the first 11 months of 2000, according to an official with Italy's National Statistics Department.

He told IRNA that in the said period Italy imported $2.08 billion worth of goods from Iran.

The official said that Italy in turn exported $670 million worth of goods to Iran.

Therefore, Italy's imports from Iran constituted more than 75 percent of the total commercial transactions between the two countries in the January-November period.

Italy imported about $1.84 billion worth of crude oil from Iran in the first 11 months of the year. The amount made up 88.3 percent of Italy's imports from Iran and 69 percent of bilateral trade in the first eleven months of last year.

There was a trade imbalance between Iran and Italy during the period under study.

Livestock products such as pickled hide and cow hides constituted about 31 percent, or 168 billion liras of Italy's imports from Iran, textiles 84 billion liras and agricultural as well as horticultural products 45 billion liras.

Further, Italy exported 1,390 billion liras worth of goods, including machinery and equipment for power generation and consumption, machinery for special purposes, basic chemical products and fittings, to Iran in the period under study.

The total weight of goods exchanged between Iran and Italy stood at 9.8 million tons, including 9.6 million tons of goods exported to Italy by Iran.

(IRNA)