Iran Foreign Trade
 


Iran's   economy is composed of public, private  and cooperative sectors. Although  the   private  sector  is very  active in the country's  industry   and  businesses,  the economic  activities   of strategic importance  are supervised  by the government. Heavy industries like  steel  mills and heavy equipment  manufacturing, power supply, oil, military industries,  the railways, shipping, telecommunications, airlines and banking are among  those overseen by the government, however, the private sector is a reliable contracting partner.

Vast oil and    natural gas resources exist across   the  country.  Oil  is Iran's  leading  industry  with  a number of  large   refineries  in Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah and elsewhere.
 
While efforts  have been  under way to  boost  the  country's   non-petroleum exports, oil  is  still the most important  Iranian  commodity internationally.

Some  of the items  exported in the year 1995 have been listed here According to the statistics released by the an independent research group:

Goods                                Value in U.S. $ 1000
carpets                                       1433505
fruits                                          600444
pistachio                                     385920
leather                                        75120
caviar                                         44385
casings                                       54700
gum                                            3092
cumin                                         45232
cotton                                         5521
detergents                                   9360
inorganic chemical products         75009
shoes                                          32409
copper bars                                 202090
fabrics, stones and tiles                81650
construction material                   35290
vehicles                                      83350

Although planning is under way to promote other industrial exports, agricultural and traditional goods were  still on top of the list of the country's non-petroleum export in the year 1995:
 

 Commodity                              Export Value in U.S. $ 1000
agricultural and traditional goods                         2976535
metal ore                                                            42607
industrial goods                                                  732037
other commodities                                              187723



These  figures have consistently increased  in recent years and herald a reduction of dependency on oil.
Domestically, only five Iranian cities had   natural gas supplied before the revolution, now  the gas supply network covers 23 cities and 50 villages. Fifteen   other  cities son will join the network which is planned to encompass about 70 cities.

Several petrochemical complexes are currently producing a wide range of chemical products which includes fertilizers and  new plants are  expected to boost Iran's capability for export.

To complete the picture  of Iran's economic structure let us review the country's gross national product   and  income by   economic sector  at current prices in billion Rials in 1990, 1992 and 1995:
 

 SECTOR                                1990              1992            1995
 Agriculture                                     84191                153920          214830
Oil                                                  37938                56690            943872
Mining & Manufacturing                 64198                 130330          210005
Services                                          173989               325856          450120


The  Iranian  Currency:  In    January   1995 the US dollar was traded  for less than 4000 Iranian Rials. The  rate of exchange has remained stable for the one year since the new exchange policies were  declared by the Iranian  Central Bank. The exchange rate is  slightly favorable to Rial's  when  you exchange money  or buy things or tickets at your hotel or  places other than banks. We  suggest  that you  always  trade your money at a bank,  as  exchanging money  outside a bank is illegal.

 Iranian coin denominations are:  one, two, five, ten,  twenty, fifty, a hundred and 250 Rials coins. Bank notes are:  100, two hundred, 500,  a thousand, 2000, five thousand and 10000 Rial notes. In daily conversations    and  transactions an  older term of Iranian currency, Tuman, is more   widely used. Every Tuman is valued at ten Rials. But remember you'll  never see a  Tuman  note   or coin because the term is used only in conversations.
 

Foreign Trade


In order to protect the country's limited foreign currency revenues the import of some consumers and luxury goods was reduced in the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution. On the other hand, during the same years the income gained by exporting  non oil commodities has been increased as the government encouraged the export of those goods.

Until March 1976 Iran's non oil export weighed 792408 tons and cost 38 billion rials. In 1994 the weight of non oil export was 7454099 tons and its value was 8312751 million rials. In this way every single Iranian's share of the non oil export has been raised from 1055 rials in 1976 to 138533 rials in 1994 when the value of import was twice its amount in 1976.

Trade Policies


To eliminate the post revolution socioeconomic crises which was mostly caused by the war, the government attached importance to its support of the financially vulnerable strata of the Iranian society. The support was made through the rationing of essential commodities and stabilizing their prices as well as allocating funds in foreign currency for supplying the people's essential requirements. Still another measure taken in this regard was subsidizing those requirements by allocating funds in the country's overall budget.

Domestic Trade

In another development, the government laid stress on agricultural productivity and extended support to farmers through providing inexpensive tools and machinery and purchasing agricultural products at guaranteed rates.

Meanwhile the government supported the cooperative sector through supplying tools and facilities to cooperatives. In turn, the cooperatives, created employment opportunities and reduced the prices through their productive activities.

In order to make reservoirs of wheat as a strategic commodity several silos have been built in Iran in recent years. Between the years 1935 and 1979 only 1214 thousand tons of silo capacity was available to Iranian farmers; while only between the years 1982 and 1995 one thousand and fifty thousand tons were have been added to the previous capacity. All these silos have been made by Iranians.

 
 
 
 

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