Iran’s 7-month carpet exports

exceed $238m

Iran exported $238.2 million worth of carpets during the past seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 20 2012), the deputy director of the Iranian Carpet National Center said on. Exports in the seventh month of Mehr (September 22-October 21) showed 27.3 percent rise in value and 26.7 percent growth in weight compared to the same period last year, Mojtaba Fayzollahi added. In September, Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said that Iran is currently exporting carpets to 80 countries of the world despite all the sanctions targeting Iran’s economic sector. He added that USA, Germany, Italy, UAE, Japan and Switzerland are the main targets for Iranian carpets. Iran has developed plans to export as much as $1 billion worth of carpets in the current calendar year, he noted. According to the Customs Administration data, carpet exports last year rose by 0.8 percent in value, but decreased by 15.4 percent in weight, compared to the year before. Iran exported over $560 million worth of handmade carpets in last calendar year, accounting for some 24 percent of the world’s total carpet trade.