Iran’s Regional Foreign Trade Volumes Increase
Iran’s trade with Russia, Turkiye and EAEU all show increases
Iran’s regional foreign trade has increased, although some of the figures are patchy due to the changing geopolitical situation concerning Russia. Iran exported 681,000 tons of goods worth US$233 million to member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU, including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia), during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 21 through June 21, 2022), as was reflected in the statistics of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
According to the IRICA, Iran’s exports to the EAEU decreased by 11% in value, yet increased by 4% in volume, compared to the same period last Iranian year. However, Iran’s imports from the EAEU for three months amounted to 748,000 tons worth US$464 million, an increase of 34% in value and 32% in volume.
Iran-Russia 2022 Trade Trends
Among the EAEU member countries, Russia ranked first place in both imports from Iran and exports to it. Iran exported 303,000 tons of goods worth US$115 million to Russia over the March-June period, a decrease of 16% in value, with no changes in volume, compared to the same period last Iranian year.
Iran imported 586,000 tons of goods worth US$394 million from Russia over the 3 month period, an increase of 23% value and 14% in volume, compared to the same period last Iranian year.
Iran-Turkiye 2022 Trade Trends
The Iran – Turkiye trade volume grew by 50% in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21,2022), Mehrdad Saadat Dehghan, the chairman of Iran-Turkiye Joint Chamber of Commerce has stated.
“Iran’s main target is to increase bilateral trade to US$30 billion and the current growth is due to an increase in commodity prices,” he said, referring to the recent growth in Iran-Turkiye trade, adding that if this trend continues, Iran will be able to reach its trade target figure.
“The two countries have the capacity to increase this figure even further,” he said.
Iran’s total trade volume with Turkiye was US$7 billion in the first four months of the current year with Iran’s exports about 50% of that.
Agriculture
Iran’s total imports and exports of agricultural and food products amounted to 7.7 million tons worth US$4.6 billion, during the same period. About 2.2 million tons worth US$1.1 billion are Iranian exports, while about 5.5 million tons worth US$3.5 billion were imported by Iran, suggesting that its consumer market is recovering as measures taken to bypass sanctions and increase trade flows with friendlier markets improve and develop.
Iran Agricultural Exports: 2022 Trends
The top five destinations of Iran’s agricultural, food products exports over the past Iranian fiscal quarter were as follows:
Iraq – 1.04 million tons worth US$412 million
UAE – 305,000 tons worth US$129 million
Afghanistan – 152,000 tons worth US$89 million
Pakistan – 81,000 tons worth US$75 million
Russia – 171,000 tons worth US$74 million
The main agricultural and food products exported by Iran are watermelons, tomatoes, dry milk, pistachios, and apples.
Iran Agricultural Imports: 2022 Trends
The top five importers of agricultural products to Iran during the same period were:
UAE – 1.95 million tons worth US$1.03 billion
Türkiye – 470,000 tons worth US$416 million
India – 269,000 tons worth US$300 million
United Kingdom – 507,000 tons worth US$239 million
Russia – 493,000 tons worth US$223 million
Iran mainly imported corn feed, wheat, rice, soybeans. and vegetable oil within the period.
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Chris Devonshire-Ellis is the Chairman of Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists British and Foreign Investment into Asia and has 28 offices throughout China, India, the ASEAN nations and Russia. For strategic and business intelligence concerning China’s Belt & Road Initiative please email silkroad@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com
