Foreign Trade on the Decline; 70% Decrease in Container Exports to Qatar

The Vice President of the Iran-Qatar Joint Chamber of Commerce announced a 70% decrease in container exports to Qatar, stating that prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 100 containers of goods were shipped daily from Iran to Qatar, but this number has now dropped to less than 30 containers. According to Khorshid Ghazdarazi, challenges created by government officials and the inability of Iranian traders to compete with traders from other countries are among the reasons for this decline. Last week, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported that Turkey's imports from Iran were less than $2.2 billion last year, marking a 33% decrease compared to 2022. Iran's exports to Iraq have also significantly decreased due to new banking and currency regulations in that country, as well as sanctions on Iranian goods following missile attacks by the IRGC on Iraqi Kurdistan. Mahmoud Najafi Arab, the head of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, also reported a $4 billion decrease in non-oil exports in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year and criticized the state control of the economy. The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' reacted to the decline in exports and the continued worsening of Iran's trade balance, stating that government officials have resorted to new methods to present statistics. Iranian exports have taken a downward trend due to low quality, high costs, lack of modern knowledge in product processing and packaging, sanctions, and fundamental economic problems due to mismanagement. A trade official stated that the damage caused by managers to exports is greater than the impact of the 'enemy'. The actions of the U.S. Department of Justice against the Islamic Republic's oil smuggling network and the financing of the IRGC, the consequences of missile attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkish goods taking over the 'Made in Iran' market were also highlighted. A member of the Chamber of Commerce mentioned that half of the exports of industrial gases are smuggled.