Iran: Exports via Land Borders Up 11%, Imports Down 14%

EghtesadOnline: Iran exported 5.53 million tons of goods from the country's land borders during the nine months to Dec. 21, which shows an 11% increase compared with the similar period of last year.

News ID: ۷۸۴۴۷۱

09 January 2019

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 West Azarbaijan Province accounted for 26% of all exports during the period, which is more than from 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 a 14% and 10% share of total exports respectively, according to Financial Tribune.

More than 1.33 million tons of commodities were imported into Iran through the country’s land borders during the same period, registering a 14% decrease year-on-year, IRNA reported.

With a 58% share, Bazargan accounted for the lion's share of imports followed by Mirjaveh in Sistan-Baluchestan and Khosravi in Kermanshah Province with a respective share of 9% and 8%.

Some 66% of exports and 48% of imports during the period were handled by Iranian trucks.

The latest report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration shows Iran's exports, excluding crude oil, mazut, kerosene and suitcase trade, hit 86.94 million tons worth $33.35 billion during the nine months, indicating a 1.84% decline in tonnage and a 5.4% increase in value year-on-year.

Non-oil imports amounted to 23.87 million tons worth $32.62 billion, down by 13.27% in weight and 15.9% in value year-on-year.

All in all, Iran’s non-oil foreign trade during the period stood at $65.97 billion, indicating a 4.68% decrease compared with last year’s corresponding period.

Iran recorded a trade surplus of $738 million.

Passenger Traffic at Land Borders

The Information and Communication Technology Bureau's data also show more than 404,000 passengers travelled via Iran's land borders from March 21 to Dec. 21.

The border crossings were made by about 54,000 vehicles, with cars, buses and minibuses accounting for 63%, 26% and 11% of all outbound travels respectively.

More than 246,000 of these passengers were Iranians and the remaining 158,000 were foreigners.

The busiest border crossings in terms of the number of outbound passengers were Dogharoun and Sarv in West Azarbaijan Province with a 31% and 20% share of all passenger exits respectively.

Some 408,000 passengers entered the country via land borders over the same period using 54,000 vehicles. Personal cars, buses and minibuses accounted for 65%, 21% and 14% of all inbound travels respectively.

About 50% of these passengers were Iranians and the other half comprised foreigners.

Dogharoun and Sarv were also the busiest border crossings in handling outbound passengers with a 32% and 22% share of total traffic respectively.