Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Some 22 percent of Iran's total imports' value falls on food products, an Iranian offfical says.
According to Kaveh Zargaran, the Secretary General of the Federation of Iranian Food Associations, Iran imported 12.57 million tons of foods and agricultural products, worth $7.03 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year(started March 20).
The value and volume of the imported foods and agricultural products are eqaul to 22 and 53 percent of the country’s overal imports, in terms of value and volume, respectievely.
Some 10 food products, worth $4.895 million, including rice($1.006 billion, 92 percent increase), corn, soybeans, sugar($380 million, 51 percent increase), bananas, sunflower seed oil($347 million, 150 percent increase), meal, meat($390 million, 36 percent increase), palm oil and barley($288 million, 74 percent increase), shared 15 percent of Iran’s imports in terms of value in the first eight months of the current fiscal year(started March 20), Zargaran said, Mehr news agency reported.
.
The aformentioned products acounted for 48 percent of the overall imports in terms of volume, he noted.
Zargaran, who serves as the Chairman of the Agricultural Commission in the Tehran Chamber of Commerce as well, said that the trade balance of the agricultural and food products in the 8-month period was -$3.174 billion.
Meanwhile the figure was -$2.16 in the same period of the preceding year, Zargaran said.
He said that increased imports of rice, oil, meat and corn, besides fall of pistachio and apple exports are the main reasons behind the fall of the trade balance this year.
Food and agricultural products acounted for 13 percent of Iran’s non-oil exports in the 8-month period, Zargaran said, adding that Iran exported 3.671 million tons of agricultural and food products in the first eight months of current fiscal year, 3.5 percent less year-on-year.
Dairy products had the biggest share in Iran’s food exports, standing at $664 million in the period, followed by pistachio($628 million, 20 percent less year-on-year) and
sweets and chocolates($411 million).
Iranian officials say that the country’s annual agricultural products stand at 120 million tons, worth $80 million.
The figure includes 82 million tons of crops, 20 million tons of horticultural products, 14 million tons of livestock and over one million tons of fishery products.