TEHRAN,Iran,OCT.25
Trend:
Iran has imported 800,000 tons of crude vegetable oil in past seven months of current Iranian year (began March 21, 2019), while the country's annual need is 1.6 million tons, said the secretary general of Iranian Vegetable Oil Industry Association, Trend reports citing IRNA.
"The imports volume of vegetable oil has increased by 10 percent comparing to last Iranian year [started March 21, 2018], therefore there will be no deficiency. Government Trading Corporation of Iran plans to import 600,000 tons of vegetable oil in current Iranian year to preserve strategic reserves," said Amir Hosshang Birshak.
"The main problem for vegetable oil importers is transferring money that has caused many problems and the government has promised to pay 6 percent of the transportation fee," the official added.
"The imports of crude vegetable oil including palm, soy and sunflower oil provide 85 percent of the country's needs, and sunflower oil has the biggest share in imports volume. About $1.2 billion is being spent annually to import crude vegetable oil," Birshak noted.
In his words, Iran imports soy oil from Brazil, sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia, and palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, while major part of olive, corn and rapeseed oil produced.
"Due to increase of import transportation costs, the price of vegetable oil per kilo has increased by 17 percent from the beginning of the current Iranian year," the official noted.