Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.21
By Elnur Baghishov, Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Iran imports around 150-160 tons of fresh lamb per day, said head of Iran’s Livestock Exporters Mansour Pourian.
He pointed out that Iran has no problems with imports of frozen meat, Young Journalists Club (YJC) reported.
Pourian said that the price of one kilogram of frozen beef imported from Brazil is 330,000 rials (around $7.8), while 1 kilogram of fresh lamb costs 345,000 rials (about $8.2).
Noting that meet is sold at totally different prices in the market, he said that 1 kilogram of fresh lamb is sold in the market for 600,000-620,000 rials ($14.2-$15.4).
He said it is necessary to increase the supply of meat to the market in order to bring the prices down.
Iran consumption of red meat was 11.5 kilograms per capita in 2017, or 920,000 tons, according to the country’s Ministry of Agricultural Jihad. Iran increased red meat production from 470,000 tons in 2011 to 838,000 tons in 2017 and decreased red meat import from 146,000 tons to 95,000 tons during the same period.
Iran imports red meat primarily from Brazil, with some batches coming from China, Australia and Germany.
Moreover, earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Faransande has expressed his country's interest in importing more meat from Mongolia.
Last year, Iran already signed an agreement with Mongolia to receive 4,000 tons of lamb.