Iran traded 1.14 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $702 million with Latin American countries during the current fiscal year’s first seven months (March 21-Oct. 22), latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
Trade with Brazil stood at 906,886 tons worth $372.72 million, for the Latin American country to top the list of Iran’s partners in the region.
It was followed by Argentina with 207,007 tons worth $287.01 million, Venezuela with 17,402 tons worth $30.78 million, Mexico with 539 tons worth $2.28 million and Ecuador with 2,433 tons worth $1.75 million.
Iran’s exports totaled 260,347 tons worth $100.15 million during the period under review.
Brazil topped the list of export destinations among Latin American nations with 241,508 tons worth $82.39 million. It was followed by Venezuela with 17,262 tons worth $14.37 million, Mexico with 372.34 tons worth $1.65 million, Argentina with 367.82 tons worth 733,732 and Chile with 320.79 tons worth $382,131.
Imports, which stood at 875,906 tons worth $601.82 million during the period under review, mainly came from Brazil with 665,377 tons worth $293.33 million, Argentina with 206,639 tons worth $286.28 million, Venezuela with 139.45 tons worth $16.42 million, Ecuador with 2,413 tons worth $1.74 million and Uruguay with 151.43 tons worth $1.105 million.
Latin America is a group of 20 countries and 13 dependencies in the Western Hemisphere where Spanish, French and Portuguese languages are predominantly spoken. The region covers an area stretching from the northern border of Mexico to the southern tip of South America, including the Caribbean. It is spread over approximately 19,197,000 square kilometers – almost 13% of the Earth's land surface area.
Iran traded a total of 98.7 million tons of non-oil goods worth $54.8 billion with other countries during the seven months to Oct. 22 to register an increase of 16.5% in weight and 43% in value compared with the corresponding period of last year.
According to Mehdi Mirashrafi, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, exports stood at 75.2 million tons worth $27.1 billion, which shows year-on-year growth rates of 15% and 47% in weight and value respectively.
“Iran’s imports hit 23.5 million tons worth $27.7 billion, registering an increase of 21% in weight and 38% in value compared with last year’s same period. Essential goods, machinery, industrial parts, raw materials and intermediate goods accounted for the lion’s share of imports,” Mirashrafi was quoted as saying by the news portal of IRICA.
Latin American economies performed better than expected during the second quarter of 2021, according to S&P Global Platts.
The services sectors in the region were more resilient to the Covid-19 delta variant. Exports also performed well, especially commodities. Average GDP grew 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the largest six Latin American countries (LatAm 6 that comprises Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru). The biggest upside surprise was Chile, which expanded 1% QOQ despite reimposing lockdowns, due primarily to very strong growth in durable goods consumption (12.6% QOQ), boosted by allowances to withdraw funds from individual pension accounts. This pushed up 2021 GDP growth projection for the LatAm 6 by half a percentage point to 6.5%, after contracting 6.8% in 2020.
Forecasts for 2022 and beyond remain broadly unchanged, as the region is seen converging toward its long-term average of around 2.5% growth. The region will continue to face the same structural economic challenges it did before the pandemic: slow productivity growth, driven by low and inefficient investment.