• Home
• Oil & Gas
• News Article

Non-Oil Exports Up

Non-oil exports including gas condensates reached $ 2.882 billion in the Iranian month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20), showing a 32.49-percent growth against the figure for the corresponding month last year, said head of Iran's Customs Administration (ICA).

Abbas Me'marnejad put the weight of non-oil exports during the period at 5.34 million tons, an increase of 8.5 percent, IRNA reported.

Non-oil exports excluding gas condensates in the said period amounted to $2.14 billion, showing a 12.38-percent growth compared to the figure recorded in the same period a year ago, said

Me'marnejad, adding the weight of non-oil exports, exclusive of gas condensates, reached 4.55 million tons, which indicates an increase of 0.38 percent.

However, imports totaled $3.778 billion in the mentioned period, posting an 18.9-percent rise against the figure for the same month last year, said the official.

The weight of imports in the said period amounted to 2.37 million tons a decrease of 19.19 percent compared to the figure for the same month the previous year.

Major Exports
Oil gases and liquefied hydrocarbons were the top export items bringing in revenues of $189.5 million and accounting for 8.86 percent of the total non-oil exports, Me'marnejad said.

Liquefied propane was the second main export item with a value of $169.5 million followed by liquefied butane valued at $131 million and accounting for a 6.12 percent of the total non-oil exports.

The next major product exported during the period was polyethylene film grade worth $109.3 million making up 5.11 percent of the total non-oil exports.

Methanol was the fifth exporting items with a value of $107.9 million, accounting for a 5-percent of non-oil exports.

Main Buyers
The official stated that UAE with $441 million was the top importer of Iranian goods followed by China which import $369 million worth of goods.

The third export destination was Iraq which imported goods worth $230 million..

In subsequent positions were the Republic of Korea and India with $210 million and $138 million of imports respectively.

Imports
Me'marnejad noted that X-ray inspection machine used to check goods was the main import item valued at $188 million, making up 4.96 percent of the total imports.

The second major item was iron and steel ingot which accounted for 4.26 percent of the imports followed by field corn, accounting for a 2.43-percent of the total imports.

The official added that UAE with $1.179 billion, China with $439 million and Germany with $292 million were the three top exporters.

South Korea and Belgium were the fourth and fifth exporters accounting for 5.83 percent and 5.62 percent of the total respectively.

Sanctions Ineffective
Meanwhile, Director of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization Hamid Safdel said the country's $14 billion annual trade growth showed the ineffectiveness of sanctions against Tehran.

"With tenacity and perseverance of the Iranian government and the private sector, the West's unjust sanctions against Iran have been completely ineffective," Safdel was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The official made the remarks in a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Iran Kinichi Kumano in Tehran on Sunday.

"In the previous year, $31.5 billion worth of goods from 110 countries were transited through Iran to 82 destinations; this 40 percent growth in transit was another reason why the sanctions against Iran failed," Safdel explained.

Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad downplayed the sanctions against the Islamic Republic, saying they caused Iran to become self-sufficient in numerous fields.

Washington and its allies used their influence in the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Tehran over allegations that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

However, Iran contends its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

© Iran Daily 2011