Iran's Exports Via Land Borders Up 17%, Imports Down 8% (Mar-Sep 2018)

EghtesadOnline: Some 3.71 million tons of oil and non-oil commodities were exported from Iran via land borders during the first half of the current Iranian year from March 21 to Sept. 22, which shows a 17% increase compared with the similar period of last year.

News ID: ۷۸۴۲۳۴

21 October 2018

According to Director General of Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization of Iran's Information and Communication Technology Bureau Hossein Motevalli Habibi, Bazargan Border Crossing in the northwestern West Azarbaijan Province accounted for 26% of all exports during the six-month period—more than any other Iranian land border.

The Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization is affiliated to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

Bazargan was followed by Milak in the southern Sistan-Baluchestan Province and Dogharoun in northeastern Khorasan Razavi Province with 14% and 11% shares of total exports respectively, according to Financial Tribune.

More than 924,000 tons of commodities were imported into Iran through the country’s land borders during the same period, registering an 8% decrease year-on-year, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.

Bazargan with a 56% share accounted for the lion's share of overall imports followed by Mirjaveh in Sistan-Baluchestan and Khosravi in the western Kermanshah Province with a 10% share each.

According to the official, 66% of exports and 47% of imports during the period were handled by Iranian trucks.

Most of Iran's trade is conducted via marine routes.

The Islamic Republic of Iran's Customs Administration's data show Iran’s overall non-oil foreign trade during the first half of the current year using all modes of transportation stood at $45.3 billion, indicating a 0.7% decline YOY. The country, however, saw a trade surplus of $941 million in H1.

Exports, excluding crude oil, mazut, kerosene and suitcase trade, hit 56.64 million tons worth $23.12 billion, indicating a 3% decrease in weight and a 13% increase in value YOY.

Imports amounted to 16.22 million tons worth $22.18 billion, down by more than 9% in weight and 12% in value YOY.

By “non-oil”, IRICA refers to all commodities, except crude oil. So oil-driven products and byproducts, as well as petrochemical products, are still categorized as non-oil.

IRICA categorizes non-oil exports into three groups of petrochemicals, gas condensates and “other items”.

A total of 13.68 million tons of petrochemicals worth $7.02 billion were exported during the period, registering a decline of more than 3% in weight and 17% in value YOY.

In fact, petrochemicals accounted for more than 30% of Iran’s overall non-oil exports.

Exports of gas condensates stood at $2.41 billion, accounting for over 10% of total exports to post a YOY decline of more than 46% in weight and 28.5% in value.

Meanwhile, exports of liquefied propane stood at $1.07 billion accounting for 4.64% of total exports, light oils except gasoline at $861 million accounting for 3.72% of total exports and methanol at $693 million accounting for 3% of total exports.

Exports of non-petroleum based products classified within “others” group fell in the neighborhood of 38.31 million tons worth $13.67 billion in the first half of the year, indicating a rise of about 7% rise in weight and more than 23% in value YOY.

Products in “others” group are exported by the private sector, accounting for more than 59% of country’s total value of non-oil exports in H1.

China, Iraq, the UAE, Afghanistan and India were the main customers of Iranian products during the six-month period.

The average price of each ton of exported commodities hovered around $408, up close to 17% compared to last year’s same period.

Imports mainly included auto parts ($978 million accounting for more than 4% of total imports), rice ($964 million accounting for more than 4% of total imports), field corn ($961 million accounting for more than 4% of total imports), soybeans ($705 million accounting for more than 3% of total imports) and graphite electrodes used in furnaces ($287 million accounting for more than 1% of total imports).

Major exporters to Iran during the period included China, the UAE, South Korea, India and Germany.

The average price of each ton of imported commodities hovered around $1,368, down 3% compared with last year’s same period.

> Passenger Traffic at Land Borders

Information and Communication Technology Bureau's data also show more than 243,000 passengers crossed Iran's land borders from March 21 to Sept. 22.

The border crossings were made by around 35,000 vehicles with personal cars, buses and minibuses accounting for 64%, 27% and 9% of all the outbound travels respectively.

More than 153,000 of these passengers were Iranians and the remaining 90,000 were foreigners.

The busiest border crossings in terms of outbound passengers were Dogharoun and Sarv in West Azarbaijan Province with a 31% and 21% share of all passenger exits respectively.

Some 241,000 passengers entered the country via land borders over the period using 36,000 vehicles. Personal cars, buses and minibuses accounted for 65%, 20% and 15% of all inbound travels respectively.

About 136,000 of these passengers were Iranians and the remaining 105,000 were foreigners.

Dogharoun and Sarv were also the busiest border crossings in handling the outbound passengers with 31% and 23% share of total traffic respectively.