Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.14/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Iran exported some 26.8 thousand tons of pistachios, worth about $264 million, in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, ISNA reported on Sunday.
Russia was the major buyer of Iranian pistachios with importing $37.2 million worth of pistachios, according to the Customs Administration data.
The United Arab Emirates, China, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, Tajikistan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, and India were among other markets for Iranian pistachios.
On August 14, the head of the association of Iranian pistachio farmers Mohsen Jalalpour said Iran has been replaced by U.S. since 2011 as the leading pistachio producer in the world.
Jalalpour told ISNA that by 2011, Iran was the major pistachio producer with some 200,000 tons of annual output, but U.S. took the lead from Iran with producing 210,000 tons of pistachio.
Jalalpour also said that Iran is expected to earn over $1 billion in pistachio exports this year.
200,000 tons of pistachio is anticipated to be harvested in the current year.
The last year's output amounted to 160,000 tons, he said, adding that 10-15 percent of the output is supplied to the domestic market.
Last year, 100,000 tons of pistachio was exported, he noted.