Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Iran will import first rice consignment from Thailand after 10 years, Secretary of Iran Rice Association Jamil Alizadeh Shayeq said.
He said that the deal for importing the aforementioned cargo was actually signed before sanctions, but Thailand stopped export to Iran, after the Islamic Republic failed to pay the money due to sanctions, Alizadeh Shayeq said, Tasnim news agency reported July 9.
He further said that Iran needs to import about 800,000 to 1 million tons of rice per year from abroad.
International sanctions against Iran removed in January 2016, after the country signed a historic nuclear deal with the six world powers.
In the past, Iran used to import 700,000 to 1 million tons from foreign countries, about 300,000-500,000 tons of which came from Thailand.
With the easing situation in Iran, Thailand and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in early 2016 to resume sales of 300,000 tons of rice worth 4.3 billion baht ($120 million).
The Iranian government bans rice import annually with only a few months of break to support domestic products.
The annual consumption of rice in Iran is 3 million tons. India, Pakistan and Uruguay are main supplier of rice to Iran.