The index saw a rise of 102.7% over the five-month period and an increase of 58.2% over the 12-month period leading to August 22 compared with the same period of last year.
EPI is primarily influenced by two factors: foreign exchange rates and global commodity prices.
The index is calculated for the prices of one or a basket of commodities in international trading, using FOB export prices, Financial Tribune reported.
EPI for the following products had the highest growth among all goods compared to the month before:
Liquefied propane and butane, methanol, light polyethylene, pistachio, urea, styrene, industrial oil, heavy polyethylene, copper concentrate, cement, ammonia, hand-woven wool carpet, evaporative coolers, hot-rolled steel, copper cathode, bitumen, zinc ingots, tiles and ceramics, cable, aluminum ingot, tractors, paraffin wax, car radiators, detergents, yogurt, tomato paste, frozen fish, cakes, ice-cream, raisins, plastic hose, white chocolate, dates, leather sandals, biscuits and wafers.
EPI for food industries, beverages and tobacco had the highest rise among the main groups compared to the month before (30.2%), followed by animal and vegetable oil with 29.3%.
The highest year-on-year increase of EPI was registered for the products of chemical industries and related industries with 241.2%, followed by the exclusive group of petrochemicals with a 206.7% rise.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, a total of 46.29 million tons of non-oil goods worth $19.31 billion were exported from Iran during the same five-month period, indicating a 2.94% decrease in weight and a 13.7% increase in value year-on-year.
The average price of each ton of exported commodities hovered around $417, up 17.13% compared with last year’s same period.
By "non-oil", IRICA refers to all commodities, except crude oil. So oil-based 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 products”.
A total of 11.23 million tons of petrochemicals worth $5.85 billion were exported during the period, registering a rise of 4.21% in weight and 20.06% in value compared with the same period of last year. In fact, petrochemicals accounted for more than 30.29% of Iran’s overall non-oil exports.
Exports of gas condensates stood at $2.17 billion, accounting for 11.23% of total exports to post a year-on-year decline of more than 41.6% in weight and 22.53% in value.
Exports of liquefied propane stood at $845 million, accounting for more than 4.3% of total exports, light oils, except gasoline, at $734 million accounting for 3.8% of total exports, methanol at $560 million accounting for 2.9% of total exports and polyethylene at $496 million accounting for 2.57% of total exports.
Exports of products classified within “others” group fell in the neighborhood of 30.89 million tons worth $11.29 billion, accounting for more than 58.4% of total non-oil exports.
China, the UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan and India were the main customers of Iranian products during the five-month period. Exports to China and the UAE saw a more than 7.53% and 33.13% rise in value to hit $3.77 billion and $3.5 billion respectively.