Iran’s total foreign trade, excluding crude oil exports, reached 25 million tons worth $15.45 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year (March 21-May 21), according to Mohammad Rezvanifar, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.Exports (excluding crude oil) hit 21 million tons worth $7.51 billion, registering a 12.26% rise in terms of tonnage, but a 13.72% fall in value compared with the similar period of last year, the news portal of IRICA reported.Liquefied propane worth $592 million, liquefied natural gas worth $538 million, liquefied butane worth $411 million, methanol worth $374 million and bitumen worth $350 million were the main exported products during the period, together accounting for 30% of the total value of exports.China with $2.41 billion, Iraq with $1.22 billion, Turkey with $835 million, the UAE with $749 million and India with $331 million were the top five export destinations. Imports stood at 4.73 million tons worth $7.94 billion, registering an 8.7% and 4.79% fall in weight and value respectively.The main imported products during the period were field corn worth $536 million, smartphones worth $247 million, GM soybeans worth $227 million, knocked-down parts for automobile production (tariff line 8703, excluding tires) worth $209 million and rice worth $206 million, together accounting for 15% of the total value of exports.China with $2.39 billion, the UAE with $2.31 billion, Turkey with $903 million, Germany with $288 million and Russia with $269 million were the main exporters to Iran during the period. The export/import data show Iran registered a trade deficit of $428 million during the period under review.Rezvanifar noted that a total of 2.32 million tons of foreign goods were transited through Iran during the period, registering a 5.38% year-on-year decline.Fiscal 2022-23 in ReviewIran traded around 159.23 million tons of goods worth $112.82 billion (excluding crude oil exports) in the fiscal 2022-23 (ended March 20), according to Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Iranian House of Industry, Mine and Trade’s Trade Development Commission.He noted that trade value increased by $11.38 billion compared with that of the previous year.Iran’s exports, excluding crude oil, reached 122.56 million tons worth $53.16 billion during the period, registering a 10% rise in terms of value.“This is a record as the highest export value was previously registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with $50.56 billion,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.China with $14.58 billion was Iran’s main export destination during the period (unchanged), followed by Iraq with $10.23 billion (up 15%), Turkey with $7.45 billion (up 23%), the UAE with $5.76 billion (up 28%) and India with $2.14 billion (up 18%).Imports stood at 37.18 million worth $59.65 billion, registering a 10% decline in terms of weight, but a 13% rise in value.The UAE with $18.39 billion (up 11%) was the main exporter to Iran during the period. China with $15.74 billion (up 24%), Turkey with $6.09 billion (up 15%), India with $2.01 billion (up 80%) and Germany with $2.01 billion (up 5%) came next. Latifi said 12.91 million tons of foreign goods were transited from Iran in the year under review to register a 2.2% rise.“The highest volume of transit was registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 13.2 million tons of transit.” Need to Diversify Trade PartnersAccording to Majid Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, the bulk of Iran’s foreign trade is with a handful of countries. “A limited number of trading partners is not a good idea for a country whose export destinations are limited. Each of these countries could become a risk if and when they get a bigger share of Iran’s trade and dominate,” he told the Persian daily Ta’adol. “We are likely to get into trouble for whatever reason, such as political issues, with these countries, each of which account for more than 15% of our trade. Market diversity is a must for import and export. Now that Iran is under sanctions and cannot forge ties with Europe and the US, we need to concentrate on other markets, namely Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.” (ICE TEHERAN)

Fonte notizia: Financial Tribune