Iran foreign trade exceeds $50bn mark in H1 fiscal year

Iranian customs office (IRICA) figures show trade between the country and the rest of the world exceeded the $50 billion mark at the end of the first half of the current fiscal year in late September.

IRICA figures published on Wednesday showed that Iran’s foreign trade had reached a total of $50.282 billion in the six months to September 22, up 13.2% from the same period in 2021.

The figures, which do not cover Iran’s crude oil exports, showed that the country had exported 51.783 million metric tons (mt) worth $24.251 billion of goods over the March-September period.

IRICA said exports had increased by 13.32% in value terms but decreased 12.5% in volume terms year on year in the current calendar year’s first half.

Iran reports 5.1% growth in manufacturing in March-August

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The customs data, covered in a report by the official IRNA news agency, showed that imports into Iran had reached $16.32 million mt worth $26.031 billion in March-September, a drop of 14.7% in volume terms and an increase of 13.1% in value terms compared with the same period last year.

Five products, namely liquefied propane, methanol, liquefied butane, liquefied natural gas, and low density polyethylene film grade 5, had accounted for 26.5% of the value of Iran’s non-oil exports over the six months to late September, said IRICA.

It said main goods imported into Iran over the six months to late September were rice at a total value of $1.218 billion, followed by wheat at $1.191 billion and animal feed corn at $1.171 billion.

China remained the largest buyer of Iranian goods over the March-September period with some $7.842 billion worth of purchases, followed by Iraq at $3.382 billion and the United Arab Emirates at $3.112 billion, showed IRICA figures.

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