Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.13 /Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran imported over 847,000 tons of wheat worth more than $ 187 million for the first eight months of this year [current Iranian calendar started on March 21, 2010], Hamid Alijani, Iranian Deputy Trade Minister, was quoted by ISNA, as saying.
Alijani said that Iran's annual wheat consumption hits 11.5 million tons.
Wheat imports from the UAE to Iran amounted to $ 65 million, from Kazakhstan to Iran - $ 31 million, Netherlands - $ 28 million, Russia - $ 26 million, Uzbekistan - $ 13 million, Austria - $8 million, United Kingdom - $ 7.9 million, Switzerland - $ 2.8 million, Lebanon - $ 1.2 million, Turkmenistan - $ 226,000, Azerbaijan - $ 87,300 for eight months of this year.
Iran decreased food wheat imports by 5.4 times during the first half of this year up to $163 million compared to the same period of 2009, Irib news agency reported earlier.
During the reporting period, Iran imported 724,000 tons of wheat worth $ 163 million compared to 3.448 million tons worth $876 million during the same period of 2009. Accordingly, the import volume of wheat has decreased by 4.8 times.
This year, Iran has imported durum wheat. Spring wheat variety import dropped by 5.4 times from $875 million to $163 million.
Wheat imports used for feeding livestock also decreased from $24 million last year up to 20 million in 2009. The volume reduced by 14 percent, the cost - roughly 17 percent.
The Iranian Commerce Ministry intends to purchase over 11.2 million tons of wheat to achieve food security.