MNA | Mahnaz Abdi: Iran�s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Head Mojtaba Khosrotaj said the European Union�s endeavors to preserve and continue trade ties with Iran is an obvious sign of defeat for the US that has withdrawn from Iran�s nuclear deal.


The official made the remarks in a press conference on Monday, and added that since the US has exited from the Iran�s deal, the European countries have several times announced that they are complying with their commitments related to the deal.

The European countries are trying to resolve this challenge and are seeking ways to convince their companies that the possible losses that they may sustain in their trade with Iran will be compensated, Khosrotaj noted.

A $942m positive trade balance in 2 months

Elsewhere in his remarks, Khosrotaj announced the figures related to the non-oil trade of Iran in a two-month period from March 21 to May 21 based on a report released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

He said the country had a positive trade balance of $942 million in the two-month period of this year, while it was a negative balance of $417 million in the same time span of the past year.

The official further put the value of Iran�s non-oil exports at $7.7 billion in the mentioned two months of this year and at $6.3 billion in the two-month time of the preceding year, with a 22-percent rise year on year.

He also put the weight of non-oil exports at 18.768 million tons at the two-month period of this year, showing 4.8 percent increase from the same time span of the past year.

He mentioned gas condensate valued at $1.029 billion, liquefied propane worth $335 million, low-density oils and byproducts except for gasoline valued at $274 million, and polyethylene�film grade worth $232 million as the main exported products during the two-month period.

The official put the average price of each ton of exported goods at $412 in this year, with 16-percent rise from the previous year�s figure.

Khosrotaj further put the country�s non-oil imports at 5.263 million tons valued at $6.797 billion during the two-month time of this year, with 2 percent and 0.5 percent rise in weight and value, respectively, compared to the two-month of the past year.

Auto parts valued at $333 million, corn as livestock food worth $296 million, soy bean valued at $248 million, rise worth $184 million, and machinery parts valued at $144 million were the major imported items during the two-month time.

The official put the average price of each ton of imported goods at $1,291 in this year, with 1.6-percent fall from the previous year�s figure.

China main trade partner

The TPO head mentioned China, the United Araba Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Afghanistan, and India as the main export markets of Iran during the two-month time, with China on top of them.

Exports to China stood at $1.451 billion, to UAE at $1.371 billion, to Iraq at $1.162 billion, to Afghanistan at $577 million, and to India at $460 million.

The mentioned five countries exported 65 percent of the products to Iran during the mentioned period of time.

Khosrotaj also mentioned China, the UAE, South Korea, Germany, and Turkey as the major exporters of goods to Iran and said 57 percent of goods were imported from these countries to Iran during the two-month period.

Imports from China stood at $1.736 billion, from UAE at $986 million, from South Korea at $423 million, from Germany at $357 million, and from Turkey at $353 million, the official announced.

He further named the main 20 export destinations of Iranian non-oil products during the two-month period, in a row, as China, UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, South Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Oman, Taiwan, Italy, Egypt, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Qatar and Japan.

He also named the major 20 exporters of non-oil goods to Iran, in a row, as China, UAE, South Korea, Germany, Turkey, Switzerland, India, Russia, France, Singapore, Britain, Italy, Brazil, Oman, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Taiwan.