Iran-EU Trade Rises 7.5% to €15b in 3 Quarters of 2018

EghtesadOnline: Trade between Iran and the 28 member states of the European Union during the first three quarters of 2018 amounted to €14.89 billion, which shows a 7.5% rise compared with the similar period of last year.

News ID: ۷۴۶۲۶۱

24 November 2018

Iran’s top five trade partners over the period were Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Greece with more than €3.78 billion, €2.31 billion, €2.28 billion, €2.25 billion and €1.11 billion worth of commercial exchanges respectively.

Trade with Croatia (€63.21 million), Hungary (€87.76 million) Latvia (€6.39 million), Spain (€2.31 billion) and Austria (€577.34 million) saw the highest growths of 1,624.2%, 201.22%, 154.92%, 87.93% and 70.56% respectively.

Iran experienced the sharpest decline in trade with Cyprus (58.93%), Malta (54.58%), Portugal (51.65%), Bulgaria (43.85%) and Ireland (30.35%), Financial Tribune reported.

Iran exported more than €8.3 billion worth of commodities to EU member states during the nine-month period, which shows a 25.1% rise year-on-year, according to Eurostat data shared with Financial Tribune.

The main destinations of Iranian exports in the European bloc were Italy with €2.59 billion, Spain with €1.1.86 billion, France with €1.52 billion, Greece with €1.09 billion and Austria with €374.5 million of purchases from the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s exports to Croatia, Hungary and Luxembourg experienced the highest rise, as exports to the Bulgaria, Netherlands and Latvia saw the sharpest decrease.

The top 10 exported commodities included mineral fuel, mineral oil and products of their distillation, bituminous substances and mineral waxes (€7.32 billion), iron and steel (€231.06 million), edible fruit and nuts, zest of citrus fruit or melons (€196.28 million), plastics and articles thereof (€142.2 million), fertilizers (€38.51 million), organic chemicals (€36.54 million), coffee, tea and spices (€31.39 million), products of animal origin (€26.95 million), carpets and other floor coverings (€24.05 million) and pharmaceutical products (€22.75 million).

As for Iran's imports from the EU during the nine months, they decreased by more than 8% YOY to stand at over €6.59 billion.

The top five European exporters to Iran during the period were Germany with €1.94 billion, Italy with €1.18 billion, France with €732.63 million, the Netherlands with €542.45 million and Spain with €449.19 million worth of exports.

Iran’s imports from Latvia, Spain and Finland saw the highest growths whereas those from Malta, Cyprus and Portugal declined.

The imported products mainly included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances and parts (€2.08 billion), vehicles other than rail or tramway rolling stock and parts and accessories thereof (€591.75 million), electrical machinery and equipment, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers and parts (€587.49 million), optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus (€584.74 million), as well as  pharmaceutical products (€539.63 million).

Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof ($297.42 million), chemical products (€194.85 million), plastics and plastic articles (€185.98 million), iron or steel products (€167.04 million), essential oils and resinoids, perfumes, cosmetic or toilet preparations (€139.07 million) were items imported to Iran.

The European Union is working on a special transaction channel away from the US financial system to keep up trade with Iran in the face of the recently reimposed US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Special Purpose Vehicle, announced first by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, is said to involve a barter system that would allow firms to bypass the SWIFT international bank transfer system.