Tehran, Iran, July 10
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Iran can turn into a major exporter of dairy products if the government implements a series of changes to boost the country’s output, Qolamali Soleimani, CEO of Kaleh Dairy Co. said in a conference on Iran’s national Industry Day.
There are great markets that Iran could supply, including Russia, which consumes 30 million tons of milk a year, of which 15 is imported, Soleimani said, Trend correspondent reported from the event.
Also, he added, Pakistan consumes 42 million liters of milk annually, 7 million tons of which is imported.
As it is evident from the statistics, he noted, dairy products in Iran are bound to import corn and soybean, regarding which the government can reduce production prices by subsidizing the mentioned animal food.
Also, there can be a guarantee to buy all farmers’ produced milk and change tax exemptions so that dairy products can be produced and distributed more easily even in the local market, Soleimani noted.
“An example of hampering regulations is that while milk has gone down in price across the world, the Iranian government is insisting on raising the prices, which makes companies like us to lose their foreign markets,” he stated.
Russia’s Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev said January 19 that Moscow has given the go-ahead to four Iranian agribusiness exporters to start supplying Russia with dairy products and is ready to set up a 'green corridor', meaning tariff discounts, for agricultural supplies from Iran.
Iran dispatched its first shipment of dairy products comprising of various types of cheese to Russia in March.