IRICA Chief Foroud Asgari said on Tuesday that Iran exported $38.152 billion worth of goods and commodities in eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 to November 22, 2024).

He said that export shipments also increased by 14.66% in volume as compared to the same period last year.

His figures showed that petrochemicals had accounted for 29.79% of Iran’s total non-oil exports in the eight months to late November as shipments generated $17.5 billion worth of revenues.

Main export items included liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), valued at $5.1 billion, liquefied propane, valued at $2.2 billion, and methanol valued at $1.7 billion, the figures showed.

China was the largest buyer of Iranian export shipments over April-November period with $9.9 billion worth of purchases, followed by Iraq at $8.3 billion and the United Arab Emirates at $4.8 billion, IRICA figures showed.

Figures released earlier this month pointed to a major month-on-month increase in Iran’s non-oil exports in October thanks to a surge in shipments delivered to neighboring Iraq.

Asgari said that imports into Iran had also risen to $45.127 billion in the eight months to late November.

He added that the UAE, which is the largest re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf region, had been the largest supplier of goods and commodities to Iran over the period with $13.6 billion worth of shipments, followed by China at $11.5 billion and Turkey at $7.8 billion.

Iran imported 4.6 billion worth of standard gold bullion, $1.8 billion worth of feed corn, and $1.5 billion worth of mobile phones over the eight months to late November, the official said.