TEHRAN – Iran’s export to Uzbekistan has risen 370 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the portal of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) reported.

Uzbekistan was Iran’s second export destination after the Russian Federation among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the mentioned five-month period.

As TPO reported, the second meeting of expert talks to review the draft preferential trade agreement and the list of preferred items between Iran and Uzbekistan was held via video conference on Tuesday, during which the two sides discussed the provisions of the draft and provided views on planning for the next round of the meeting in October.

Meanwhile, the 14th meeting of Iran-Uzbekistan Joint Economic Committee is expected to be held in the near future as the situation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic improves.

As the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has announced, the value of Iran’s non-oil trade has risen 38 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi said that Iran has traded 59.3 million tons of non-oil products worth $34 billion with other countries in the mentioned period, which indicates also 14 percent growth in terms of weight on an annual basis.

The official put the five-month non-oil exports at 45.5 million tons valued at $17.661 billion, with a 63 percent rise in value and 20 percent growth in weight.

The IRICA head mentioned methanol, natural gas, polyethylene, semi-finished iron products, iron ingots, gasoline, liquefied propane, iron rods, urea, and bitumen as the main exported products in the said time span.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China with about 12.3 million tons worth $5.9 billion, Iraq with 12 million tons worth $3.163 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with five million tons worth $1.9 billion, Turkey with 1.375 million tons worth $1.1 billion, and Afghanistan with 2.165 million tons worth $885 million.

The official further announced that Iran has imported 13.8 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $16.631 billion in the first five months of the present year, with a 21 percent growth in value and a 0.5 percent fall in weight year on year.

According to the official, the country’s trade balance was over $1 billion positive in the mentioned five months.

Mir-Ashrafi named cellphones, livestock corn, sunflower oil, barley, meal, wheat, soybeans, sugar, and rice as the main imported commodities.

The United Arab Emirates with 4.436 million tons of goods worth $5.391 billion was the top exporter to Iran in the said period, followed by China with 1.1 million tons of goods worth $3.6 billion, Turkey with 1.578 million tons worth $1.8 billion, Germany with 431,000 tons worth $668 million, and Switzerland with 692,000 tons worth $572 million, the official stated.

He has put the weight of non-oil trade at 146.4 million tons and said that the figure shows a 25-million-ton annual decline, which is the result of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.

MA/MA