IRICA - spokesman Rouhollah Latifi said that Iran’s customs office (IRICA) has posted a trade surplus of $1.263 billion for the calendar month to August 22 as sales to China accounted for a bulk of the rise in the shipments.
IRICA figures showed that Iran’s exports in the fifth month of the current calendar year had amounted to $3.323 billion, up 54% against the similar month in 2020.
Iranian overseas shipments had declined by 9% in value terms compared to the month to late July, showed the figures.
China was the top purchaser of the Iranian export shipments over the period as the country imported $1.505 billion worth of goods from Iran, up 20% against the previous month.
Iraq trailed China at $346 million worth of imports from Iran, a decline of 27% against the month to late July while purchases by traders in the United Arab Emirates also declined by 19% to $285 million.
Iran’s exports to Afghanistan, where military fighting led to the rise of the Taliban to power in mid-August, nearly halved to $127 million although the country remained Iran’s fifth largest export destination after Turkey which had $184 million worth of purchases.
Latifi said imports into Iran had declined by 26% in value terms compared to August 2020 to a total of $2.055 billion. Import cargoes had dropped by 53% against the month to late July this year, he said.
The UAE, the top re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf, was the largest exporter to Iran over the period with $711 million worth of shipments, down 53% against the previous month.
China’s sales to Iran fell by 56% against July to $476 million, while Turkish exports into Iran had declined by nearly 40% to $281 million. Shipments from Germany and Switzerland were collectively responsible for nearly $140 million worth of imports into Iran in the month to late August, said Latifi.