Baku, Azerbaijan, July 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Cell phones became Iran’s fifth top import in the first three months of the current fiscal year, started March 20, 2018.
The value of cell phones’ legal import into Iran registered a significant increase in the 3-month period by 194 percent to $192.4 million, the country’s customs administration said.
Iran’s legal cell phone imports amounted to 1.142 million devices in the same span of time, which is 130 percent more compared to the same month of the preceding year.
The huge rise comes as a result of a plan by the Iranian administration to prevent smuggling cell phones into the country.
Under the plan, cell phone users in the country need to register their devices with the country’s telecommunications user database.
The Islamic Republic imported $11.253 billion worth of commodities during first quarter of the current fiscal year(March 20- June 21), which is 2.76 percent less year-on-year.
Iran imported 8.37 million tons of goods in the same span of time, according to the country’s Customs Administration.
Car parts, worth $541 million, topped the list of Iran's imported goods during the 3-month period.
Corn fodder (worth $436 million), soybean meal ($248 million), rice ($375 million), soybean ($373 million) and cell phones ($192.4 million) were the other goods mainly imported to the Islamic Republic in the period.
China was the main exporter of goods to Iran in the mentioned period. Iran imported $2.936 billion worth of goods from its traditional trade partner in the last three months.
After China, the UAE ($1.692 billion), South Korea ($712 million), Germany ($573 million) and Turkey ($551 million) were other four biggest exporters of goods to Iran.
Iran imported $54.302 billion worth of commodities during the last fiscal year, which was 24.31 percent more year-on-year.
The main reason behind the significant rise was the increase in import of staple goods, car parts and capital commodities, according to the Iranian Customs Administration.