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Iran’s fruit exports rise 29.8 per cent

Oil&Gas Materials 22 May 2013 16:52 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, May.22/ Trend F.Karimov/

Iran exported 1038 tons of fruit worth $786.7 million, in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, IRNA quoted Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran deputy director Kiyumars Fathollah Kermanshahi as saying.

The fruit exports rose by 29.8 per cent in value and 25.8 per cent in weight year on year, he added.

Iraq, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan were the main destinations for Iranian fruits, he said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Customs Administration head Abbas Memarnejad said that Iran imported 481,000 tons of fruit in the past year.

Fruit imports last year decreased by 40 per cent and 36 per cent in weight and value respectively, compared to the figures in its preceding year.

In October 2012, the ISNA reported that Iran ranked first in the Middle East and ninth in the world in fruit production with an annual harvest of about 20 million tons, according to the Agriculture Jihad Ministry.

Products were exported to 100 countries bringing in over $2.87 billion in income.

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates were the major buyers of Iranian fruit. Citrus fruit, apples, grapes and peaches are the main fruits exported by Iran.

In January, the Fars News Agency quoted Iran's deputy agriculture Minister Jahangir Pourhemmat as saying that Iran's agricultural exports grew in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, with pistachio and saffron sales almost doubling, despite Western sanctions on trade with the country.

"Export of farming products has increased 15 per cent compared to the previous year, while agricultural exports are still on the increase on a daily basis," Pourhemmat added.

However, Iran needs to work on the packaging in order to boost its fruits exports, officials say.

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