Iran-Egypt Trade Sees 67% Growth

TEHRAN (Iran News) Seyed Rouhollah Latifi stated on Friday, coinciding with the Iranian President’s visit to Egypt for the D-8 summit, that trade relations between the two countries have experienced many ups and downs, much like their political relations. However, with the strengthening of political ties and both nations joining BRICS, there has been a noticeable increase in direct trade between Iran and Egypt.

He elaborated that in the first eight months of this year, over 35,883 tons of goods worth $17,186,348 were exchanged between the two nations, signifying a 65% rise in weight and a 67% rise in value compared to the same timeframe last year.

Latifi further highlighted that Iran’s exports to Egypt accounted for 28,116 tons of goods valued at $13,798,476, reflecting a 30% increase in weight and a 41% increase in value compared to the previous year.

According to him, Iran’s imports from Egypt reached 7,767 tons of goods valued at $3,387,872, demonstrating a significant 592% increase in value compared to the same period last year.

Regarding the nature of Iran’s exports to Egypt, Latifi noted that steel and iron products accounted for 27,206 tons valued at $13,271,737, representing 96.8% of the weight and 96.1% of the value of Iran’s total exports to Egypt during this period. Following these, laboratory measurement kits, pistachios, car clutch components, various types of marble, travertine, sodium hydroxide, tomato paste, tractors, and agricultural machinery were also exported.

On the topic of Iran’s imports from Egypt, he explained that during the first eight months of this year, over 7,580 tons of manganese ore worth $1,463,605 were imported, constituting 97.5% of the weight and 43.2% of the value of Iran’s total imports from Egypt.

Following manganese, Iran also imported 12.5 tons of circuit breakers valued at $1,004,419, razors worth $359,900, double-edged blades worth $165,325, electronic components valued at $155,610, potassium sulfate worth $138,711, flow meters worth $14,233, and glass components for lamps and lights valued at $12,750 during this time.

Latifi added that Egypt’s foreign trade in 2023 reached approximately $115 billion, consisting of $72.4 billion in imports and $42.5 billion in exports. Of the total exports, $28.5 billion was non-oil products, while $14 billion comprised oil and electricity exports.

He noted that major Egyptian exports for 2023 included ready-made clothing ($2.3 billion), urea fertilizer ($2.1 billion), plastics ($2 billion), and natural gas ($1.95 billion).

Turkey emerged as the largest destination for Egyptian exports in 2023, purchasing $4.5 billion worth of goods, followed by Italy and Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the classification of goods imported to Egypt, Latifi stated that 36.3% were intermediate goods, 17.9% capital goods, 14.6% fuel, and 12.5% consumer goods, which are categorized as significant imports.

In terms of values, Egypt imported $5.1 billion of fuel, $4.8 billion of plastics, $3.5 billion of wheat, and $2.8 billion of pharmaceuticals in 2023, with China, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Russia being the four major trading partners supplying goods to Egypt.

Despite the historical fluctuations in commercial relations over more than six decades, both under the previous regime and in the past four decades, Latifi emphasized that rebuilding these relations has been time-consuming for various reasons. However, he expressed optimism about the current intentions of both governments and viewed the recent eight-month trade growth between Iran and Egypt as a potential beginning for economic flourishing, especially with the Iranian President’s visit to Egypt. He hopes that the current share of less than half a percent of Egypt’s $115 billion market can exceed $1 billion through the removal of existing trade and political hurdles.