China among main importers of Iranian hand-woven carpets

Talking to IRNA, Kargar reiterated that China keeps increasing the volume of its import of Iranian hand-woven carpets everyday.

‘The volume of exported Iranian hand-made carpets to China has increased from $8,000 to $8,000,000 within five years,’ he said.

‘During the sanctions era, Iran’s hand-woven carpets had inconspicuous presence in the traditional European markets,’ the official added.

‘Iranian carpet merchants sought new markets in countries like Brazil, South Africa, Russia and China that are considered as new carpet export destinations for Islamic Republic,’ he said.

‘Iran’s rival, China, which used to produce carpets for itself, has now become a client of Iranian carpets today and is one of the top buyers of Iranian handmade carpets,’ Kargar noted.

Recently, deputy minister of industry, mines and trade said the export of machine-made carpets will hit $400 million in the year to March 20, 2016.

Mojtaba Khosrotaj put the value of machine-made carpet exports in the past nine months to December 2015 at $300 million.

The figure for the nine months last year stood at $330 million, he said.