Iran’s hand-made carpet exports hit $279 million

TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (MNA) -- Iran exported $279 million worth of hand-made carpets in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21, 2011), the deputy director of Iran National Hand-Made Carpet Center stated. Mehdi Kateb told that the country is planning to export $600 million worth of hand-made carpets by the end of the year. Head of Iran's National Carpet Center Feysal Merdasi has predicted that Iran’s carpet exports in the current Iranian calendar year will increase 12 percent compared to the last year. Iran exported $556 million worth of handmade carpets in the previous calendar year, up 12 percent year on year. The amount showed some 4 percent increase in terms of weight in comparison to its preceding year. The United Arab Emirates and Germany were the main destinations for Persian carpets.” Japan, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Sweden, and Lebanon were the other major importers of Iranian-made carpets.