TEHRAN (Iran News) – The value of Iran’s exports to its African trade partners in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21) increased by 350 percent year on year, Farzad Piltan, director-general of Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Office of Arabian and African Countries, said.
According to Piltan, Iran exported nearly 834,340 tons of commodities worth $340 million to African countries in the mentioned three months, IRNA reported.
The weight of exports in the said quarter also increased by 144 percent compared to the previous year’s same period.
During this period, Ghana with $151 million of imports, Algeria with $58 million, South Africa with $32 million, Tanzania with $25 million and Nigeria with $18 million were the top export destinations for Iranian products, according to Piltan.
Sudan with less than $17 million, Kenya with more than $14.5 million, Ivory Coast with $12 million, Somalia with $4 million and Egypt with about $1.5 million were also ranked sixth to tenth.
According to the official, the ease of restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the re-establishment of trade exchanges and events between the two sides were the most important factors contributing to the increase in the Islamic Republic’s exports to the African countries during the said period.
Back in February, Piltan had announced the opening of a €200 million credit line for the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) to use for developing exports of commodities and services to African countries.
“The mentioned fund has been allocated as part of a $2-billion support package which has been allocated by NDF for developing the country’s non-oil exports,” the official said.
In total, Iran traded 38.4 million tons of non-oil goods worth $20.9 billion with its trade partners in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, up 25 percent and 50 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively.
The value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 14 percent in the third Iranian calendar month (May 22-June 21), from its previous month, according to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Rouhollah Latifi.
The official put the monthly non-oil export at 13.087 million tons valued at $4.369 billion, and that of the imports at 3.049 million tons worth $3.688 billion.
