(MENAFN) The value of non-oil exports from East Azarbaijan province in northwest Iran saw a notable increase of 37 percent during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21) compared to the same period last year. This growth was highlighted by Sadeq Namdar, an official with the province's Customs Department, who reported that the province exported 1.317 million tons of non-oil goods valued at USD637.497 million during this period. Notably, there was a 51 percent increase in the weight of exported goods year on year, reflecting a significant boost in the province's export performance.

Namdar detailed that the main items exported from East Azarbaijan included cast iron, iron and steel, petrochemical products, plastic products, mineral fuels, mineral oils, fruits, and copper and copper products. The primary destinations for these exports were Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, indicating strong trade ties with neighboring and regional countries. This substantial growth in exports underscores the province's strategic role in Iran's non-oil trade landscape.

In the previous Iranian calendar year 1402, which ended on March 19, East Azarbaijan province had exported non-oil commodities worth USD1.542 billion, as announced by Mohammad-Jafar Ozmaei, the director-general of the province's Industry, Mining, and Trade Department. He noted that East Azarbaijan was among the top provinces in the country in terms of non-oil exports, demonstrating its consistent contribution to Iran's overall export figures.

On a national level, Iran's non-oil exports during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year reached USD17.5 billion, marking an 8 percent increase year on year, according to Mohammad Rezvanifar, head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA). The total value of the country's non-oil trade during this period amounted to USD36 billion. However, imports of non-oil products decreased by about 6 percent to USD18.5 billion, resulting in a trade balance of negative USD1.0 billion. This represented an improvement compared to the negative USD2.5 billion trade balance recorded during the same period in the previous year, reflecting progress in balancing the country's trade deficit.

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