IRICA: Foreign transit hits 13.5m tons in eight months as trade values slip
Iran’s foreign cargo transit reached 13.5 million metric tons in the first eight months of the current Iranian year starting March 21, while non-oil trade values declined despite modest gains in volumes, official data showed.
According to IRNA, citing figures from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iran exported 105.231 million tons of non-oil goods worth about $37.0 billion ($36.997 billion) in the eight-month period. Export volumes rose 1.17% year on year, while the dollar value fell 3.48% compared with the same period last year.
Imports totaled 25.823 million tons valued at $39.540 billion over the same period. While import volumes increased by 3.03%, their value dropped by $6.590 billion, or 14.29%, year on year. In the first eight months of the previous year, Iran recorded more than $46.130 billion in imports.
China was Iran’s top export destination in the period, accounting for $9.255 billion, or 25.02% of total export value. Iraq followed with $6.719 billion (18.16%), the United Arab Emirates with $5.216 billion (14.10%), Turkey with $4.393 billion (11.87%), and Afghanistan with $1.660 billion (4.49%).
On the import side, the United Arab Emirates ranked first among Iran’s trading partners, supplying goods worth $12.152 billion and accounting for about 30.73% of total import value. China followed with $10.760 billion (27.21%), Turkey with $6.190 billion (15.66%), India with $1.327 billion (3.36%), and Germany with $1.184 billion (2.99%).
Iran’s foreign transit volume of 13.5 million tons in the eight-month period was down 9.25% from the same period a year earlier, the data showed.