TEHRAN –Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration Muhammad Rezvanifar said on Wednesday that the country’s total foreign trade, excluding crude oil exports, reached 25 million tons worth $15.45 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year (March 21-May 21).

Rezvanifar said that the exports (excluding crude oil) hit 21 million tons worth $7.51 billion, registering a 12.26% rise in terms of tonnage, but a 13.72% fall in value compared to the similar period of last year.

Liquefied propane worth $592 million, liquefied natural gas worth $538 million, liquefied butane worth $411 million, methanol worth $374 million and bitumen worth $350 million were the main exported products during the period, together accounting for 30% of the total value of exports.

 

Exports to ECO States 

Surged to $13bn

 

Iran exported $13 billion worth of products to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states in 2022, Rezvanifar said.

Speaking in a meeting with ECO Secretary General Khosro Nazeri, Rezvanifar also put the value of products imported to Iran from ECO member states at $7.5 billion.

He noted that Iran’s value of trade with ECO member states in 2022 hit $20.5 billion.

Turning to the high capacities of ECO member states in various fields, the IRICA chief pointed out that Iran and ECO member states enjoy high capacities to increase their bilateral trade.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration is ready to make necessary cooperation with ECO member states to materialize the objectives in line with boosting bilateral trade and economic activities, he underlined.

The deputy minister of economy further noted that developing transit and increasing the volume of goods transited from ECO member states are among the areas that these countries can take advantage of to facilitate, accelerate and increase the transit volume.

The ECO secretary general, for his part, pointed to the key role of Iran in promoting trade between the member states and added that given the high capacities that exist among ECO member states, the eight percent share of trade among them is too little.

He added that effective steps should be taken in line with increasing this figure. 

Reducing customs tariffs among member states and exchanging data electronically are among the moves that will greatly help facilitate trade among member states and increase bilateral transit exchanges, Nazeri added.

Annual Exports to Russia Rise 57% 

 

IRICA also reported that, Iran exported 1.41 million tons of goods worth $743.88 million to Russia in fiscal 2022-23 (ended March 20), registering a 25% and 57% rise in weight and value respectively compared with the year before.

 Russia ranked 10th on the list of Iran’s top export destinations during the period, IRICA reported.

The exports mainly included components and parts of turbojets or turboprops (except for the fixed and moving blades of gas turbines) with $68.49 million, shrimp with $57.76 million, kiwi with $51.74 million, and pistachio with $44.1 million, and capsicum and Pimenta pepper with $34.07 million.

According to Iran Primer, trade between Iran and Russia fluctuated wildly in the three decades after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It plummeted by 65% between 2010 and 2015 when the UN imposed sanctions on Iran, then nearly quadrupled by 2022 after international sanctions were lifted, a new trade route opened and a budding military alliance deepened. 

“We in Iran have no limits for expanding ties with Russia,” President Ebrahim Raisi told Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022.