Iran plans to export up to 4 million tons of wheat in the current calendar year (to end March 19, 2012), the deputy commerce minister said here on Saturday-MNA reports.
Hamid Alikhani added that the government has obliged the commerce ministry to export up to 4 million tons of wheat in the current year.
According to him, Iran exported some 400 thousand tons of wheat and 600 thousand tons of wheat byproducts and flour last year.
Pointing out that Iran exported wheat to thirteen countries, Alikhani expressed the hope that the country could expand its target markets in the current year and export wheat to more countries, including Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Iran was a net importer of wheat in recent years. By developing domestic production of wheat and also implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan, the country's consumption of wheat fell around 30 percent, President Mahmoud Ahmdinejad said last week.