TEHRAN- Over $235 million worth of products were exported from Sistan-Baluchestan Province in southeast Iran during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-May 20), according to a provincial official.

Mohammad Rafi Soltanzadeh, the head of the province’s industry, mining and trade department, said that 236,724 tons of non-oil goods worth $235.6 million were exported via customs and border marketplaces of this province and also Chabahar Free Zone in the first two months of the current year, Mehr news agency reported.

The official said that the exported goods show a 16-percent growth in terms of weight during the two-month period of this year, compared to that of the previous year.

Construction materials (cement), fresh fruits, raw peas, sulfurs, dates, summer crops, detergents, bitumen and ceramic products were among the main products exported via this province to other countries, he said.

These products were exported from the province to the neighboring countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates as well as other countries, the official added.

The value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year stood at $9.341 billion.

Based on the data released by the Customs Administration, in the mentioned period Iran imported $5.041 billion worth of goods, while exporting $4.3 billion.

The volume of traded goods was estimated at 21 million tons, of which 14.5 million tons were related to exports and about 6.5 million tons were imported goods.

Iran's top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with $1.19 billion worth of exports, Iraq with $1.107 billion, the UAE with $682 million, and Afghanistan with $341 million as well as Turkey with $144 million, so the country’s top five export destinations remained the same in comparison to previous months.

As reported, China accounted for over 27 percent of Iran’s total exports, followed by Iraq, UAE, Afghanistan and Turkey with 25 percent, 15 percent, 8 percent, and four percent respectively.

The top five sources of imports during this period were China with $1.234 billion, the UAE with $1.78 billion, Turkey with $535 million, Russia with $356 million and India with $335 million worth of imports.

In the first month of the year (March 20-April 20), India was the fifth largest exporter to Iran and the Netherlands was the fourth.

Like all other countries around the world, Iran’s trade with its foreign partners has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, however, the situation is getting back to normal and the country’s trade borders are opening one by one.

MA/MA