Iran: Non-Oil Trade Surplus, Deficit Biggest With Iraq, Switzerland
EghtesadOnline: During the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2018), Iran had the biggest non-oil trade surplus and deficit with Iraq ($1.15 billion) and Switzerland ($348 million) respectively.
Exports to Iraq stood at $1.16 billion while imports from the neighboring country hit $2.7 million over the period under review.
Iran exported as little as $0.7 million worth of goods to Switzerland and imports reached $349 million during the same period, figures by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration shows.
Following Iraq, Iran registered its second, third and fourth biggest trade surplus with Afghanistan ($576 million), the UAE ($384 million), and India ($171 million) respectively, according to Financial Tribune.
Following Switzerland, Iran registered its second, third and fourth biggest trade deficit with Germany ($323 million), China ($285 million), and Russia ($221 million) respectively.
Iran’s non-oil foreign trade in the two-month period stood at $14.53 billion, indicating an 11% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Total exports hit 18.76 million tons worth $7.73 billion, indicating a 21.93% increase year-on-year, as imports amounted to 5.26 million tons worth $6.79 billion, up 0.49% YOY.
Iran recorded $0.94 billion in overall surplus with other countries during the period in terms of non-oil trade.
Petrochemicals ($2. 31 billion), gas condensates ($1.02 million), liquefied propane ($335 million), light oils, except gasoline ($274 million), polyethylene ($232 million) and liquefied petroleum gases ($203 million) were the main exported commodities.
Imports mainly included auto parts ($333 million), field corn ($296 million), soybean ($248 million), rice ($184 million) and machinery parts ($144 million).
China was the main customer of Iranian products during the period under review, as Iran exported $1.45 billion worth of goods to this country, 2.94% more than the corresponding period of the last Iranian year.
Other major export destinations included the UAE with $1.37 billion worth of imports, Iraq with $1.16 billion, Afghanistan with $577 million and India with $460 million.
Major exporters to Iran included China with $1.73 million worth of exports, the UAE with $986 million, South Korea with $423 million, Germany with $357 million and Turkey with $353 million.
According to Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Chairman Mojtaba Khosrotaj, Iran imported $1.03 billion worth of consumer goods during the same period to register a 2.7% decrease compared with the same period of last year.
“Consumer goods accounted for 15.3% of the country’s total imports, while intermediate and capital goods constituted 63.5% and 15.4% of total imports, respectively. Items classified as 'others' made up 5.8% of the total,” the official has been quoted as saying by IRNA.