Page 22 - IRANRptMay21

But the IMF also noted that Tehran was having difficulty accessing some of its reserves as its relations with foreign banks were constrained by the threat of US sanctions. Meanwhile, sanctions could cut the current account surplus sharply given the severe disruption they are causing to trade.
5.1.2 Import/export dynamics
Iran’s non-oil exports up 80% y/y in first Persian month
Iran’s trade with fellow Caspian Sea countries amounts to $2.5bn in 2020/2021 Persian year
Iran exported non-oil commodities worth $2.97bn in the first month of the new Iranian calendar year (March 21-April 20), marking an 80% gain compared to the same month of the coronavirus-afflicted previous year, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA). Iran’s overall foreign trade amounted to $5.76bn and imports were up 47% y/y at $2.79bn, meaning Iran enjoyed a $174mn surplus.
China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and Afghanistan were Iran’s top export destinations, while gasoline was the top exported item. The UAE, China, Turkey, India, and Russia were Iran’s top five import sources. Mobile phones, sunflower oil, wheat, rice, and meal were the top imported items.
The value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73bn in the past Persian calendar year (ended on March 20), with exports accounting for $34.5bn and imports $38.5bn.
Gasoline, natural gas, polyethylene, propane and pistachios were the main non-oil exported products during the full year. Corn, mobile phones, rice, oil meal and oilseeds, wheat, and raw oil were the major imported, IRICA said.
Trade between Iran and other countries with a Caspian Sea coastline amounted to $2.5bn in the 2020/2021 Persian year (which concluded on March 20), IRNA reported Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) officials as saying on April 19.
Iran recorded a surplus of $117mn from the trade, conducted in a year hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts such as border closures across the region for much of the 12 months. Trade conducted across the Caspian Sea continued largely unhindered but land border closures affected frontiers such as those between Iran and Turkmenistan and Iran and
22 IRAN Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com