Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian Zard Band Company has managed to produce saffron extract for the first time in the country and export the product to Switzerland.
The company's managing director Vahid Gorji said negotiations are underway to export saffron extract to the U.S., Iran's Mehr news agency reported on August 27.
The company plans to monthy export 20,000 packages of saffron extract, each valued at $6, he said.
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 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.