Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.2
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran has imported some 1.385 million tons of rice, valued at $1.610 billion, during the first eight months of the current solar year (started on March 21), which indicates an increase by 77.79 and 1.26 percent in terms of volume and value respectively, compared to the same period of the last solar year.
The Iranian Custom Administration's latest monthly report released in December said, India (with $1.138 billion worth of exports), the United Arab Emirates (with $ 154.36 million worth of exports), and Turkey (with $ 138.481 million worth of exports) were the main exporters of rice to Iran during the period.
Iran imported some 1.669 million tons of rice, worth $1.903 billion during the first ten months of the current year, which indicates an increase by 23.91 and 59.85 percent in terms of volume and value respectively, compared to the first ten months of 2012, according to the report.
The country's rice import during the first seven months of the current solar year stood at 1.268 million tons.
Some 2.25 million tons of rice was produced in the county in the previous year.
The director of the Iranian rice producers association, Jamil Alizadeh Shayeq has criticised rice imports into the country saying, "If the current trend continues, the country's imports would be way more than domestic needs and that will cause great problems for the domestic rice farmers."
In December 2012, Mehdi Kaboli, an official with the country's Agricultural Ministry, said that annual rice consumption in Iran stands around 2.8 million tons.