Iran Trying to Fill Exports Gap with Turkey

Chairman of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce said that the country is trying to compensate four-month export gap with neighboring Turkey which happened as a result of spread of coronavirus global pandemic. Speaking on Friday, Mehrdad Sa’adat pointed to the latest situation of admitting Iranian trucks at Turkish border and impact of the coronavirus outbreak on trade volume exchange between the two countries of Iran and Turkey and reiterated, “we try to compensate a four-month export gap with Turkey.” Presently, “we are facing the long queue of trucks at borders,”, he emphasized.

Turkey refrains from accepting more Iranian trucks due to the outbreak of COVID-19, he said, adding, “talks are underway with Turkish officials to increase the number of Iranian export and transit trucks for entering Turkey.” This is while Turkey has been named as Iran’s fifth export target market in the first four months of current year (from March 21 to July 22) as Iran exported 43,000 tons of products, valued at US$405 million, to neighboring Turkey, he stressed. According to IRICA, 5% of Iran’s total non-oil commodities were exported to Turkey in this period. Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to the volume of products imported into the country from Turkey and added, “some 1,870,000 tons of products, valued at US$1,178,000,000, was imported into Iran from Turkey.”

Accordingly, Islamic Republic of Iran has been introduced as Turkey’s 3rd goods import origin, so that Turkey accounts for about 11% of Iran’s total import share. He put Iran’s trade balance with Turkey in first four-month period in the current year at -US$773 million. - Mehr