Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran exported $231 million worth of handmade carpets in the first 10 months of current fiscal year (March 20, 2016-Jan. 20, 2017), deputy head of the National Carpet Center, Mojtaba Feyzollahi, said.
The figure indicates a 16.9-percent increase as compared to the same period of preceding year, Feyzollahi said, IRNA news agency reported Feb. 8.
The US was destination for 30 percent of Iran’s handmade carpets in terms of value in the 10-month period, he said.
Iran was exporting some $80 million worth of handmade carpets to the US before 2010 when the sanctions against Iran were tightened. The figure dropped to zero after 2010.
In the past years, Iran's rivals such as Pakistan and India replaced the Islamic Republic in the US market.
Feyzollahi added that Iran has targeted the export of $350 million worth of handmade carpets in current fiscal year (to end March 2017).
East Asian countries are among the main buyers of Iranian carpets. Iran's handmade carpets are exported to Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, China, Japan, as well as France, Sweden, Italy and Germany.
The country exported handmade carpets for a total of $330 million in 2014, according to the National Carpet Center of Iran.