Annual export of agri-food increases by more than 22%

TEHRAN – The value of Iran’s exports of agricultural and food products increased by 22.5 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ending March 19), according to the spokesperson of the International Relations and Trade Development Committee of Iran’s House of Industry, Mining and Trade.

According to Ruhollah Latifi, Iranian producers managed to export about $6.3 billion worth of the said products that year, IRNA reported.

As reported, agricultural and food products accounted for 12.8 percent of the country’s total non-oil exports last year.

Iraq was the main destination for Iranian agricultural products in the said year, importing $1.986 billion worth of said products. The Arab neighbor accounted for 31.5 percent of Iran’s total food and agricultural exports.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) came in second place, importing $751 million of the said products, followed by Russia with $521.5 million.

The value of Iran’s total foreign trade, including oil and engineering services, amounted to $153.17.8 billion in the last Iranian calendar year.

According to the Head of the Customs Administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRICA Mohammad Rezvanifar), the value of the Islamic Republic’s trade with partners increased by 2.6 percent in the previous year compared to the same period last year.

The official estimated the country’s non-oil exports, excluding exports of electricity, crude oil and techno-engineering services, at 136.4 million tons worth $49.33 billion, marking an increase of 9.82 percent in terms of tonnage and shows a decline of 8.87 percent in terms of value. .

According to Rezvanifar, Iran exported $35.87 billion in crude oil, $370 million in electricity and $1.293 billion in technical engineering services in the said year.

According to him, 48.8 million tons of petrochemical products worth $19.4 billion were also exported during this period, showing a decline of 11.32 percent and 28.59 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively.

During this period, liquefied natural gas at $3.9 billion, liquid propane at $3.62 billion, and bitumen oil at $2.19 billion were Iran’s top exports.

Iran’s top export destination during this period was China with $13.915 billion in imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $9.215 billion, the UAE with more than $6.611 billion, Turkey with $4.16 billion and India with $2.17 billion.

The official estimated the average customs value of each ton of exported goods at $362, down 17 percent from the previous year.

During this period, 39 million tonnes of goods worth US$66.28 billion were also imported into the country, showing an increase of 4.39 percent in terms of weight and 77.9 percent in terms of value, he said.

The country’s top five import sources in the previous year were the UAE with $20.782 billion, China with $18.545 billion, Turkey with $7.541 billion, Germany with $2.155 billion and India with $1.917 billion in imports.

Corn, mobile phones and gold bars were the top three imported items, followed by soybeans, auto parts, sunflower seeds and safflower the top five items imported by the Islamic Republic.

Rezvanifar said the average customs value of each ton of imported goods rose by $5.16 to $1,697.

According to Rezvanifar, Iran’s trade with its neighbors also increased by 1.35 percent last year to $60.773 billion.

He estimated the weight of non-oil trade with neighboring countries in the said period at 95.924 million tons, which was 2.45 percent less than the previous year’s figure.

Last year, Iran exported $28.288 billion worth of goods to its neighbors, while importing raw materials worth $32.485 billion.

Iranian exports to neighboring countries fell by 9.51 percent in the said year; while imports from neighboring countries increased by 13.17 percent.

He named Iraq, the UAE, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan as the largest importers of Iranian goods among neighboring countries, and the UAE, Turkey, Russia, Oman and Pakistan as the top import sources in the past.

EF/