The Investigation of Trade Dimensions of Iran’s Raisins

The export of non-oil commodities especially agricultural products has an important role in Iran’s economic activities, and its impact on economy and relative growth is undeniable. So, the expanding the agricultural export can provide the appropriate basis for Iran’s non-oil export in order to presence in the world market. Among the agricultural export of Iran, raisins have an important role. In this regard, this study has been done in order to investigate the trade dimensions of Iran’s raisins including export comparative advantage, export market structure, export target markets, trading map and global integration index over the period of 2000-2009. The results show that Iran has a high export comparative advantage over the mentioned period but after the 2004 the comparative advantage of this product has had a decreasing trend. Also, according to the target market ranking and global integration indices, Algeria, Panama, Lesotho, Saint Kitts and Nevis, are the best target markets of Iran’s raisins. The type of raisins export market structure is closed oligopoly and the result of trading map show that the Iran’s export market is declining. Finally, providing the basis for expanding the export and maintaining the Iran’s competitive position in the global market by revision the raisin's production, processing, marketing and trade policies is suggested.

JEL Classification: F10, Q17