Iran sees sharp rise in hand-woven carpet exports

TEHRAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran exported 5,400 tons of hand-woven carpets in the past Iranian calendar year ending March 20, Financial Tribune daily reported Wednesday.

The value of the exports reached 424 million U.S. dollars, with an increase of about 18 percent compared to the previous year, it said.

The commodity was exported to about 80 countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Japan.

China, Russia, South Africa and some Latin American countries have emerged as new customers in recent years, said Hamid Kargar, chairman of Iran National Carpet Center.

Since the removal of western sanctions against the Islamic republic from early 2016, Iran's carpet trade has begun to recover, as exports to the Western countries, particularly the U.S., came back on track after almost six years of freezing.

According to Kargar, more than three million square meters of hand-made carpets are annually woven in Iran, with two thirds of them exported. Enditem