In other words, goods worth an average $250 million were exported to the neighboring country per day, according to Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Hamid Hosseini.
He announced the figures during the Iran-Iraq Commercial Forum held at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture on Saturday, IRIB News reported.
President of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e Es’haq, who was also present at the forum, said Iran’s bilateral trade with Iraq is ten times more than that with the whole Europe, according to Financial Tribune.
According to the official, Iran’s trade with the neighboring state totaled $13 billion in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2019).
According to Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Saad Abdul Wahab Jawad Qandil, the forum was a follow-up to President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to Iraq in March as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s trip to Tehran in April where the two sides showed strong determination not only to maintain the level of mutual trade, but also boost it to $20 billion per year.
Based on data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, 19.84 million tons of non-oil goods worth $9.01 billion were traded between Iran and Iraq in the last fiscal year to register a 48.25% and 35.75% growth in tonnage and value respectively compared with the year before.
Iran exported 19.76 million tons of goods worth $8.96 billion to Iraq, up by 49.15% and 36.71% in tonnage and value respectively year-on-year.
Iraq was Iran’s second export destination in the world after China, during the period.
Iran’s exports to Iraq included liquefied natural gas, mineral oils, household cleaning detergents, low-density oils and tomatoes.
Iran imported 73,563 tons of commodities worth $58.69 million from Iraq, down 43.14% and 34.61% in tonnage and value respectively YOY, which mainly constituted low-density oil, machinery, aluminum alloy and cans.
Iraq was the 41st exporter to Iran in the world.
According to Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani, Iran was the biggest exporter to Iraq last year.
"This is the first time Iran tops the list of exporters to neighboring Iraq … We need to keep this status using our full potential, as our rivals Turkey and China trail closely behind the Islamic Republic," the minister was quoted as saying by IRNA.
With more than $1.93 billion, Iraq was also the biggest importer of Iran's mineral products last year.
According to data released by the Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation, known as IMIDRO, a total of more than 9.67 million tons of different mineral products were exported from Iran to neighboring country last year.
In terms of weight, however, China was the biggest export destination as it imported 19.22 million tons.
According to Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, Hamid Hosseini, Iran's mineral exports to Iraq last year mainly included non-precious metals worth $1.13 billion, which experienced a 50% rise compared with the year before.
The bulk of the exports included steel products worth $1 billion as well as copper products worth $71 million.
China, the second biggest importer of Iranian mineral products value-wise, shipped in $1.49 billion last year.
It was followed by the UAE with 4.36 million tons worth $815 million, Turkey with 800,000 tons worth $711 million, Indonesia with 1.7 million tons worth $588 million, Afghanistan with 2.92 million tons worth $577 million, Thailand with 1.31 million tons worth $536 million, Oman with 1.29 million tons worth $309 million, India with 3.63 million tons worth $286 million and Egypt with 478,000 tons worth $202 million.