Trade Balance in Iran’s Free Trade Zones Positive
The High Council of Iran’s Free Trade, Industrial and Special Economic Zones reported that in the first two months of the current Persian calendar year (started on March 21), the seven free zones of Qeshm, Aras, Arvand, Maku, Kish, Anzali and Chabahar had a total of $215.3 million in exports and $208.2 million in imports (including imports of production machinery), which ultimately resulted in a positive trade balance of $7.1 million for these seven free zones.
The trade balance of the country's seven free zones, excluding imports of machinery, was positive at $69.5 million.
The highest positive trade balance among these seven free zones during the two months of the current year belongs to Qeshm with a positive of $37.8 million. Next in rank is Aras Free Zone with a positive of $32.7 million, followed by Arvand Free Zone with $25 million.
Reports said in February that Iran’s foreign trade showed a hike in the first 10 months of the current Persian calendar year (started on March 20), reaching $103.846 billion.
Iran’s non-oil exports since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year hit $103.846 billion, registering an 18% growth compared to same period last year.
Iran exported 158.180 million tons of non-oil goods, valued at $103.846 billion in the same period.
The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) announced that over 127.396 million tons, valued at $47.755 billion, was for exports, showing a 12 and 18 percent growth in weight and value, respectively.
China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have been Iran’s main export target markets, the report added.
In that period, Iran exported natural gas, liquefied propane, methanol, liquefied butane and bitumen to the target markets.
In this period, Iran imported $17 billion, $14.4 billion, $909 billion and $1.9 billion worth of products from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, Turkey and Germany, respectively.
In addition, 41,297 cars, valued at $877 million, was imported into the country between March 21, 2024 and January 20, 2025, showing a 709 percent and 744 percent growth in number and value, respectively, compared to the last year’s corresponding period.
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