Azerbaijan, Baku, May.27/ Trend R.Zamanov
Iran exported more than 128,600 tons of pistachio worth 1.14 billion dollars in the previous calendar year ended March 20, the Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said on Monday.
The figures show a five and 6.8 per cent increase in terms of value and weight, respectively in comparison to the preceding year, the IRNA News Agency quoted Fathollah Kermanshahi as saying.
The United Arab Emirates, Russia, Germany, and Netherlands were the main importers of Iranian pistachio, he added.
Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of the association Iranian pistachio farmers announced on March 18 that the country exported 140,000 tons of pistachio in the previous year, 40 per cent more than the preceding year.
According to Jalalpour, in total, the country produced 183,000 tons of pistachio in the previous year which is 15 per cent more than the year before.
Pistachio is currently being sold at a price of 10 to 11 dollars per kilo in the global markets, so considering the price of the US dollar in the free market (around 36,700 rials), we can say that the real price of pistachio should be around 380,000-400,000 rials in domestic markets, he explained.
Iran banned exports of pistachio in February in a bid to curb rising prices in the domestic market. Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi had ordered the stopping of pistachio exports for six months to help regulate prices, the Fars News Agency reported. However was announced a week later that the ban has been lifted.
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