Iran posts quarterly trade surplus of $1.5b despite sanctions

Iran’s non-oil exports excelled the country’s imports in the first quarter of the Iranian calendar year starting March 21, as authorities reported a trade surplus of around $1.5 billion.

Tehran Chamber of Commerce released data suggesting that the total value of Iran’s trade in the three-month period reached $11.5 billion, Press TV wrote.

The report said China, Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan were the top importers of Iran’s goods and services in the quarterly period.

It said Turkey imported around $2.2 billion worth of goods and services from Iran, a fivefold jump compared to the similar quarterly period in 2018.

However, it said exports to the UAE had more than halved while Afghanistan imported 32 percent less from Iran compared to the same period in the previous year.

The report said China had topped the list of countries exporting to Iran, adding that India had replaced South Korea in the group of five top exporting countries to Iran which also includes the UAE, Turkey and Germany.

Iran has sought to diversify its economy and increase non-oil exports as it seeks to offset the impacts of sanctions imposed by the US on its sale of crude.

Improved exports also came amid devaluation in the Iranian currency which hit historic lows in September just after Washington imposed its sanctions on Iran.

Although the Iranian currency has regained some of its value over the past weeks, exports to countries like Iraq have continued almost unabated.

Refined products derived from oil, including plasticizers and liquefied gas, currently constitute a bulk of Iran’s non-oil exports.

source: Iran Daily