Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran has started wheat export to Oman, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, head of Association for Iranian Food Industries Societies, said.
The first 35,000 tons consignment of wheat loaded in ship for destination of Oman, Mortazavi said, IRNA news agency reported.
Iran can export wheat to Persian Gulf states in high volumes, he added.
Mortazavi further said that the Islamic Republic’s wheat export capacity for current fiscal year (started March 20) is 2 million tons.
Iran can turn into a main wheat and flour exporter by planning, he added.
Mortazavi also said that Iran is exporting flour to Iraq in big and small consignments.
Last month Iranian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ali Akbar Mehrfard said that Tehran has started exporting its surplus wheat to Europe and regional countries in flour form.
He added that over 200,000 tons of flour has been exported so far to the target markets.
Iran’s wheat production reached 14 million tons during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017). It was earlier announced that the country will export its surplus wheat to Iraq and Afghanistan in flour form.
Almost 7.5 million tons of wheat is used by bakery units in Iran and the country’s food industry also needs 2.5 million tons of wheat every year.
Adding the amount considered as strategic reserves to the figure, the Islamic Republic needs over 13 million tons of wheat annually.