TEHRAN- Germany exported non-oil products worth $454 million to Iran during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Foroud Asgari said that Germany was Iran’s fifth source of non-oil imports during the three-month period.

According to the official, Iran’s total non-oil trade during the first quarter reached 43.489 million tons, valued at $24.684 billion.

Imports accounted for 9.013 million tons of that volume, worth $13.029 billion—down 4.35 percent in weight and 11.73 percent in value year-on-year, the IRICA head stated.

The average value of imported goods was $1,446 per ton, reflecting a 7.7 percent decline, the official said.

Key import items included unrefined gold at $965 million, animal feed corn at $883 million, rice at $500 million, sunflower seed oil at $493 million, and mobile phones at $372 million, he announced.

The UAE was Iran’s leading import partner with $3.886 billion in shipments, Asgari stated.

According to the IRICA head, Iran exported $11.655 billion worth of non-oil goods in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year.

The volume of non-oil exports stood at 34.476 million tons, representing a 9.3 percent decrease in weight and a 14.4 percent drop in value compared to the same period last year, the official stated.

The average customs value of exported goods was $338 per ton, down 5.6 percent year-on-year, he added.

Petrochemical exports during the quarter totaled 11.133 million tons, valued at $4.684 billion, which marks a 28.7 percent decline in weight and a 24.5 percent decrease in value from the year before, Asgari stated.

He said that the top non-oil export items were liquefied propane at $874 million, liquefied butane at $611 million, methanol at $576 million, petroleum bitumen at $574 million, and natural gas at $456 million.

China was Iran’s largest export destination with purchases totaling $3.511 billion. It was followed by Iraq at $1.905 billion, the United Arab Emirates at $1.592 billion, Turkey at $937 million, Afghanistan at $510 million, Oman at $437 million, and Pakistan at $420 million, according to the IRICA head.

MA