BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 25. Iran’s dairy industry has seen a significant growth in its exports in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21 through September 22, 2023), said Mohammad Reza Banitaba, the spokesman for Iran Dairy Industries Society, Trend reports.
The spokesman noted that Iran exported over $381 million worth of milk and dairy products, weighing 281,000 tons, in six months. This was a 16.4-percent rise in value and a 17.3-percent rise in volume compared to the same period in the previous Iranian year, when the exports were $327 million and 240,000 tons, respectively.
Banitaba added that Iran’s dairy products reached 39 countries, with Iraq being the main destination, accounting for 58 percent of the value and 30.5 percent of the volume of the exports. Other major markets were Pakistan, Afghanistan, the UAE and Azerbaijan.
According to him, the most exported dairy products were dry milk ($149 million), milk and sour cream ($65 million) and cheese ($63.5 million).
As reported, Iran also increased its exports of agricultural and food products by 21 percent in value and 2 percent in volume in six months, reaching $2.43 billion and 3.5 million tons, respectively.
In total, Iran’s non-oil exports amounted to $24.1 billion and 67.7 million tons in the first half of the current Iranian year, showing a 2.62-percent increase in value and a 29-percent decrease in volume from the same period last year.
Iran’s non-oil exports do not include crude oil, mazut, and white oil, which are subject to US sanctions that prevent Iran from exporting them freely. Therefore, Iran has been focusing on increasing its non-oil exports to cope with the economic pressure.
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