Iran’s customs office (IRICA) says non-oil exports from the country rose by 18% year on year in the eight months to November 20.
IRICA chief Foroud Asgari said on Tuesday that Iran had exported $38.152 billion worth of goods and commodities in the eight months to late November.
He said that export shipments had also increased by 14.66% in volume terms over the same period to reach 103.558 million metric tons.
His figures showed that petrochemicals had accounted for 29.79% of Iran’s total non-oil exports in the eight months to late November as shipments generated $17.5 billion worth of revenues.
Main export items included liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at $5.1 billion, liquefied propane at $2.2 billion, and methanol at $1.7 billion, the figures showed.
China was the largest buyer of Iranian export shipments over the April-November period with $9.9 billion worth of purchases, followed by Iraq at $8.3 billion and the United Arab Emirates at $4.8 billion, IRICA figures showed.
Figures released earlier this month pointed to a major month-on-month increase in Iran’s non-oil exports in October thanks to a surge in shipments delivered to neighboring Iraq.
Asgari said that imports into Iran had also risen to $45.127 billion in the eight months to late November.
He added that the UAE, which is the largest re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf region, had been the largest supplier of goods and commodities to Iran over the period with $13.6 billion worth of shipments, followed by China at $11.5 billion and Turkey at $7.8 billion.
Iran imported 4.6 billion worth of standard gold bullion, $1.8 billion worth of feed corn, and $1.5 billion worth of mobile phones over the eight months to late November, the official said.