Belarus views Azerbaijan as transit partner for Iranian metal products

The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) is considering Azerbaijan as a transit partner for metal product shipments from Iran, Yaroslav Kovalchuk, head of the BUCE's Foreign Economic Activity Department, said at the "Open Dialogue with Business" seminar in Baku, Report informs.

"We are currently trading in raw materials such as timber and metal products. It should be emphasized that we purchase metal abroad. We are interested in supplying metal products, including Iranian ones. Given Azerbaijan's strong ties with Iran, we see your country as a promising partner for facilitating the transit of Iranian metal to the Belarusian market," Kovalchuk stated.

He added that Belarus has a well-developed production of finished goods, but lacks its own raw material base-neither ferrous nor non-ferrous metals: "Currently, the bulk of our purchases come from Russia, but we are strategically focused on expanding our supplier base."