Baku, Azerbaijan, June 18
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Afghanistan may be turned into a rival for Iran in saffron production.
Farhad Saharkhiz, member of the board of directors of the saffron export development fund of Iran, said considering that Afghanistan is similar to Iran in climate, it is likely to become a rival for the country in the future, Iran's IRIB reported on June 18.
To maintain the saffron market, we should produce organic saffron and export under national brands, he added.
The value of Iran's saffron exports fell by 52 percent during the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) compared to the preceding year.
The country exported some 136.6 tonnes of saffron, worth $200.2 million in the mentioned period, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on April 25.
Iran's saffron exports stood at 139.2 tonnes during the calendar year of 1391(ended on March 21, 2013).
While the volume of the exported saffron last year was only 1.8 percent less than the preceding year's export, the sharp fall of Iran's saffron's price lead to a decrease of 52 percent in value.
The value of Iran's exported saffron accounted for $418.8 million during the calendar year of 1391.
Iran currently exports 75 percent of its total saffron output to over 30 countries including Russia, Germany, Switzerland, England, France, Spain, Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Scotland, Sweden, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Bahrain, Philippines, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, Qatar, Japan, Kuwait, India, China, and Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian administration has developed a plan for raising the annual saffron output to 500 tonnes by 2021. The plan has envisaged boosting exports to over $1 billion by 2021.
Edited by CN