TEHRAN- The value of export from East Azarbaijan province, in the northwest of Iran, rose 16 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), from its preceding year, an official with the customs department of the province announced.

Leili Orangi said that commodities worth $1.654 billion were exported from the province in the previous year.

In terms of the weight, the exports indicate nine percent annual growth, she added.

The official named carpets and handicrafts, sweets and chocolates, glass and glass products, steel and cast iron, objects made of plastic materials, minerals and stones, nuts, petrochemical products, machinery and mechanical devices, components and parts, leather and shoes as the major exported items, and Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Georgia, Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Italy as the main export destinations.

She further announced that 441,000 tons of products worth $1.189 billion were imported to the province in the previous year, showing 19 percent rise in value, and six percent drop in weight year on year.

The official named Turkey, Germany, UAE, China, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Russia, India and Austria as the main sources of imports to the province in the past year.

As previously announced by the head of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 38 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400, as compared to its previous year.

Alireza Moqadasi put the country’s non-oil trade at 162 million tons worth $100 billion in the past year.

He said that Iran exported 122 million tons of non-oil products worth $48 billion in the previous year, which was $14 billion (41 percent) more than the figure for its preceding year.

The country's non-oil trade record in 1400 was reached while the toughest sanctions were imposed on Iran, but thanks to God and the efforts of entrepreneurs, producers and the cooperation of foreign trade-related organizations, a historical record was achieved in the past year which was unprecedented in recent decades, the official underlined.

MA/MA