According to the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, 959,848 tons of commodities worth more than $180 million were exported to 27 African countries during the period.
“Exports included dairy products, dates, plaster and cement, carbon, metal sheets, glass, iron bars, aluminum, flowers for use in perfumery, licorice extract, medical equipment and oilseeds,” Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Iran’s main export destinations in the African continent were Ghana with $52.81 million, Cameroon with $22.85 million and Kenya with $21.26 million.
Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Guinea, Libya, Morocco, Mali, Macao, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Somalia, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Rwanda were other customers of Iranian goods.
Import from African countries over the same period amounted to 8,299 tons worth $20.39 million.
Different types of seeds, vegetable oils, chlorine and washing liquid essence, industrial vehicle spare parts, clutch pedal pads, packaging containers, medical equipment, sesame seeds, tobacco and industrial sheets were Iran’s main imported products.
Zimbabwe with more than $5.75 million, Ghana with $5.55 million and South Africa with $3.06 million worth of exports were the main African exporters to Iran during the seven months under review.
With 54 countries, Africa is the second largest continent with a population of around 1.3 billion. It has a higher economic growth compared to the world average.
Although it accounts for less than 3% of the annual global trade, the continent offers Iran ample ground for bilateral trade.
Total Non-Oil Trade Exceeds $38b
Iran’s total non-oil trade with other countries stood at 84.8 million tons worth $38.27 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
Trade volume in the corresponding period of last year (March 21-Oct. 22, 2019) stood at $49.57 billion, which indicate that commercial exchanges have declined by 23% on a year-on-year basis.
According to Mehdi Mirashrafi, the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, exports accounted for 65.57 million tons worth $18.23 billion and imports constituted 19.33 million tons worth $20.04 billion of the total sum.
In other words, Iran recorded $1.81 billion in trade deficit during the period under review.
Compared with the corresponding period of last year [March 21-Oct. 22, 2019], the exports registered a 17.5% and 23% decline in tonnage and value respectively, he added.
Previous data provided by IRICA showed Iran's imports during last year's corresponding period stood at 19.8 million tons worth $25.17 billion. This means imports during the period under review saw a slight increase in tonnage but a 20% decline compared with last year's corresponding period.
Noting that imports of essential goods accounted for 13.8 million tons of total imports, Mirashrafi said, “Corn was one of the main imported goods, reaching 5.8 million tons compared with 5.1 million tons of last year’s corresponding period.