Iran Trade May Shrink Day by Day
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Chairman of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce says if the current condition continues in the world economy, in the upcoming months shortage of forex resources will show itself sharply and Iran’s trade will shrink day by day.
Speaking to ILNA, Mr. Majid Reza Hariri said that Iran’s exports to China have fallen by about 50 percent in the past four months.
He further said, “New data from China’s customs administration show that Iran’s trade with China has fallen 34 percent.”
Noting that this is an important event for both countries, he added that the outbreak of coronavirus was the major factor and that’s why world trade has likely to decline 25-30%.
“If this trend continues, our exports and trade with the world, as well as trade with China, will shrink sharply but its ratio will be more than 30 percent.”
He noted that global oil prices have fallen sharply over the past seven months and said “China mainly imports oil from Iran and the drastic fall in oil prices has been the main reason for the devaluation of Iran’s exports to China during this period.”
Iran’s exports to China totaled $1.81 billion in the Q1 2020, indicating a 52.7 percent year-on-year decrease.
In return, China exported $2.13 billion worth of commodities to Iran during the period under review, up by 15.9 percent year-on-year.
Iran and China have had a long history of cultural, political, and economic exchanges along the Silk Road since at least 200 BC, and possibly earlier. To this day, China and Iran have developed a friendly economic and strategic partnership.
Approximately 80 percent of China’s total imports from Iran are oil and the rest is the mineral and chemical products.
