Non-Oil Exports from Iran’s Southern Province Hit $20 Billion

A new official account shows that Iran’s Southern province of Hormuzgan has exported $20 billion worth of non-oil products in the past 11 months of the current local calendar year (March 21, 2019 - February 20, 2020), indicating a 136% jump in comparison with the corresponding period last year.

Customs Officer of Hormuzgan province Abolfazl Akbarpour said on Monday that $29 billion worth of products were exported from this province to various countries in the past 11 months of the current local calendar year.

He pointed to the performance and activity of provincial customs office in the reported period and added, “Over 42,787,000 tons of goods, valued at $29 billion, were exported from this southern province, showing a 103 and five percent growth in terms of value and weight respectively.

Of total $29 billion worth of products exported, $20 billion of which is related to the non-oil exports, he added.

Akbarpour put the volume of non-oil commodities exported from the province in the same period at 34 million tons, showing a 136 and 10 percent hike in terms of value and weight respectively.

Turning to the volume of products imported into this province, he stated, “over 7.6 million tons of products, valued at $15 billion, was imported into this province from March 21, 2019 to Feb. 20, 2020, registering a one percent hike in terms of value.”

In December, Iranian Deputy Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Hossein Modarres Khiabani said that the country's trade balance stands at $65bln in the past 9 months despite the US sanctions.

Over $32.5 billion worth of goods were exported from Iran over the past nine months, as the country's trade balance stands at $65 billion, taking into account the total imports, Modarres Khiabani said on Wednesday.

His comments came as Iran is speeding up efforts to diversify its economy away from oil as normal crude sales have fallen significantly as a result of the American sanctions.