Mohammad Rezvanifar said on Monday that Iran’s oil and mazut exports had increased by 7% in the five months to August 21 compared to the same period last year.
Rezvanifar said that non-oil exports from Iran reached a total of $21.9 billion in April-August, of which some $9.8 billion were earned from exports of petrochemicals.
He, who is the deputy minister of economy, added that shipments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied propane and methanol had generated $2.2 billion, $1.4 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, over the same period.
Iran’s petchem exports rose by 12.8% in value terms and 12.5% in volume terms year on year in the five months to late August, IRICA figures showed.
The figures also showed that China, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the three largest buyers of Iranian products and commodities in the April-August period.
Imports into Iran rose by 5.5% in the five months to late August to reach a total of $26.3 billion, said Rezvanifar, adding that the country had imported some $1.6 billion worth of gold, $1.4 billion worth of animal feed corn and 0.893 billion worth of mobile phones over the same period.
He added that Iran had significantly ramped up its exports of soybean meal, gold and beef over the April-August period.
IRICA figures that the UAE, the largest re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf, was the top supplier of products and commodities to Iran in the five months to late August, followed by China, Turkey, Germany, India, Russia and Hong Kong.
MA/Press TV