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Pistachio price to fall at Iran's domestic markets

Business Materials 18 February 2013 12:39 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.18/ Trend F.Milad

Pistachio exporters will offer some 5000 tons of pistachio on the domestic markets in the near future, Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of the association of Iranian pistachio farmers said on Monday.

The move will decrease the price of pistachio to 300,000 rials (some $24.5 based on the official rate of USD), the IRNA News Agency quoted Jalalpour as saying.

Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi announced on Sunday that Iran has lifted the ban on pistachio exports.

Assadollah Asgaroladi, head of the Export Commission of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, said on Saturday that Iran will allow pistachio exports only if the domestic market is well-supplied.

Exporters have declared their readiness to supply the domestic markets as well, the ISNA News Agency quoted Assadollah Asgaroladi as saying.

It was announced last week that Iran has banned exports of pistachio in a bid to curb rising prices on the domestic market.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi had ordered the stopping of pistachio exports for six months in order to help regulate prices, Fars News Agency reported.

Iranian Customs Administration data shows that each kilogram of Iranian exquisite pistachio is currently exported at $8.2.

This is while the same product is sold at around 500,000 rials (about $40 based on the official rate of USD) on the domestic market.

According to Fathollah Kermanshahi, Iran annually produces 150-200,000 tons of pistachio.

Iran and the US are the main producers of pistachio, he added.

By putting a ban on pistachio exports, Tehran will lose its target market in Washington, Fathollah Kermanshahi explained.

According to Jalalpour, Iran exported some 80,000 tons of pistachio in the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012.

China was the main importer of Iranian pistachio, accounting for 70 percent of imports, he noted.

Pistachio output is projected to hit 200,000 tons this year, he said, adding that the output stood at 180,000 tons last year.

Exports are estimated to amount to 130,000 tons in the current year, he added.

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