Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.2
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Some 208 tons of clothes worth $1.54 million were imported, mainly from China, the UAE and Italy during the first eight months of the current solar year (started on March 21).
According to the Iranian Custom Administration's latest monthly report released in December, imports of clothes decreased by 83.91 per cent in weight and 89.48 per cent in value, compared to the same period of the last solar year.
Iran imported 185 tons of clothes, valued at $ 1.254 millions during the first seven months of the current solar year.
Cigarettes imports decrease by 29.57
Iran has imported some 6,439 tons of cigarettes, worth $56.14 million, during the first eight months of the current solar year, which indicates a decrease in terms of value and volume by 29.57 and 15.04 per cent respectively, compared to the same period of the last solar year.
Cigarettes were mainly imported from Turkey, the UAE and Russia.
In August, ISNA quoted head of the Iranian centre for supervision over the consumption of tobacco products Shamseddin Nikmanesh as saying that Iranians smoke 36 trillion rials which is some $1.45 billion (based on official rate of 24,790 rials) worth of cigarettes annually.
Some 50-60 billion cigarettes are smoked in Iran per year, 40 billion of which are produced domestically, nine billion are imported legally and the rest are smuggled, he explained.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Tobacco Company Managing Director Masoum Najafian said in May that over 30 per cent of cigarettes consumed in Iran have been smuggled.
Some 61 billion cigarettes are smoked in Iran annually, he added.
Mobile phone imports decreases by 10.39 per cent
Iran has imported $ 98.838 million worth of mobile phones during the first eight months of the current solar year, which indicates a fall by 10.39 per cent compared to the same period of the preceding year. According to the Custom Administration's report, mobile phones were mainly imported from the UAE, South Korea and Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone (CFZ).
Iran imported $ 110.3 million worth of mobile phones during the first eight months of the last solar year.