Page 20 - IRANRptMar19

Iranian non-oil exports to Russia increase 36% y/y in 2018
Iranian ports load, unload 13.5% less non-oil goods in first 10 months of Persian year
the payments to buy sugar and other food items.”
The order was placed by Iran’s Government Trading Corporation (GTC) to shore up supplies inside the country.
According to the spot price paid by Iran, the country is paying a hefty $7 per tonne premium compared with the average market rate due to the ongoing risks associated with the country.
Iran’s non-oil exports to Russia rose 36% in 2018 compared with the previous year, reaching $533mn, the Iranian embassy in Moscow said on February 16.
Iran, which will soon accede to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) , is continuing to move into the Russian sphere of influence due to the throttling of trade with Western countries following the implementation of US sanctions on the country.
Exports to the northern country included pistachios, raisins, dates, apples , cucumbers, potatoes, fish, shrimp, cement, plastics and petrochemical products, Iran’s data said.
The announcement was made by the economic attaché to Russia Farhad Parand, who said: “Iran exported commodities to the Russian Federation worth $533mn in 2018, while 2017 sales stood at $392mn.”
To continue trade with Russia, Iran said it dropped using the dollar as an international trade currency and has reverted to the ruble and rial as well as euros.
Bilateral trade between the two in 2018 stood at $740mn, indicating a 2% increase y/y.
Roughly 111mn tonnes of non-oil goods were loaded and unloaded at Iranian ports during the first 10 months of the 2018/2019 Persian calendar year, marking a 13.5% y/y decline, Tehran’s Financial Tribune daily has reported.
Iran’s trade volume has taken a huge hit since the US reintroduced heavy sanctions on Tehran last year. It has gradually ratcheted up its sanctions regime, threatening secondary sanctions against countries and foreign companies that continue to do business with the Islamic Republic.
Data from Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation (PMO) also shows oil consignments dealt with by the ports in the 10-month period (ended January 20) down by 11.7% y/y.
PMO officials said the decline was primarily down to Iran—which in the face of the renewed sanctions attack has increasingly reverted to ‘resistance economy’ policies partly to stop outflows of hard currencies—banning the import of 1,339 different items deemed luxury goods and for which Iran-made alternatives can be found. The PMO did not discuss whether the US blockading of trade with Iran played a role in the decline of processed goods. Mohammad Shariatmadari, a former minister for industry, mines and business minister, who now serves as an advisor in that field, said that the import bans applied to a wide variety of items including cars, vans, tractors, powdered milk, bras, cookers, cameras and even musical instruments. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) such as teabags, ketchup, soap and even pencils are also on the list.
“Imports of some goods will be restricted by increasing customs duties while certain other goods will be altogether banned as imports,” a senior government official was quoted as saying by IRNA at the time the list of banned import items was released.
20 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com