TEHRAN, Iran, July 24
Trend:
Iran's handmade carpet exports have suffered by rivaling exports from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are cheaper, and Iran's carpet sale has also been affected by sanctions, head of Handmade Carpet Sellers Union of Iran Mojtaba Araghchi said, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"Iran's carpet has almost lost its foreign customers. Germany, France and European countries and the US used to purchase 40 percent of Iran's carpets but due the sanctions we've lost 40 percent of our market in these countries," said Araghchi.
"The new customers are in Russia, Brazil and the South America but the market in general is in recession," he said.
"The price of Iran's handmade carpet is around $500 while the price of handmade carpet produced in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan is around $250," he added.
"Iran's carpet export is not in good situation while exporters are not able to return export foreign currency revenues easily. So, there's recession in domestic and foreign markets. The coronavirus spread has also effected the exports," he said.
Araghchi also said that the purchasing power of people has also affected the domestic market.
"The country's overall handmade carpet export in 2017 was worth $300 million, while the volume had significantly reduced in 2018 and 2019," he added.