China, which was once Iran’s rival in global carpet trade, has now become one of the ten major importers of hand-woven Iranian carpet, said head of Iran National Carpet Center (INCC) on Thursday.
Hamid Kargar added that the export of hand-woven Iranian carpet to China has increased from $8,000 to $8 million in the past five years.
‘During the sanctions, our presence in some traditional markets such as those in Europe weakened due to economic recession. Therefore we had to pinpoint new markets including those in Brazil, South Africa, Russia and at the top of them China,’ he elaborated in a report carried by MNA.
Citing the reasons for the shift in China’s standing from an exporter of carpets to importer, he said, ‘China’s economic reform, withdrawing from certain industries such as carpet and the newly-emerging upper-class looking for luxurious products, have created a potential market for Persian carpet in this country.’
According to Kargar, Iran’s carpet exports in the last decade averaged $500 million per year, and this figure declined to about $300m due to domestic and international issues.
Earlier this month, Kargar announced that the first shipment of Iranian hand-woven carpets has been exported to the US. He referred to the licensing of Iranian carpet exports to America as a result of JCPOA coming into force, adding, ‘Iranian hand-woven carpets have regained old and traditional markets and the first shipment of the product was dispatched to Los Angeles via the port of Hamburg.
‘We received positive exposure in the recent DOMOTEX exhibition in Germany’s Hannover, where American traders discussed, ordered and bought Iranian hand-woven products.’
The removal of sanctions would bring new hope for Iranian carpet traders to regain lost markets, he added.
