Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Export of tomatoes in Iran is considered to be a sale of raw materials in a way, Mehdi Mir-Razavi, secretary at Iran Conserve Industry Syndicate, told ISNA, Trend reports.
According to Mir-Razavi, although the aim of the export of tomatoes is providing support for the farmers, they do not gain the main income of the export, as it is the middlemen who primarily benefit from the export.
Mir-Razavi added that a number of middlemen buy 1 kilogram of tomatoes at the sowing areas for 25,000 rials ($0.59 according to official exchange rate and $0.16 at the free market) and then sell them for $1 per kilogram at border areas in several trucks.
"Just as it was last year, the export of tomatoes this year will not result in an increase in the prices of this product or of its processed forms, because there is a plentiful harvest this year, and the harvest season has not yet reached its peak," he said.
The Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade put a ban on the export of tomatoes in August of last year due to an increase in tomato prices in the country. The ban was lifted in winter.