Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iranian officials say that the share of Iran’s food and agriculture products in the country’s non-oil exports has been increasing during the current fiscal year (started March 2017).
The Islamic Republic’s food product exports were on the rise following the removal of the international sanctions in 2016. The Islamic Republic exported over 1.18 million tons of food products worth $2.7 billion during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017), 8 percent more year-on-year in terms of value.
The country’s food product exports in the first nine months the current fiscal year (March 20-Dec. 21, 2017) witnessed a rise by 13 percent in terms of volume and amounted to 1.37 million tons, according to Kaveh Zargaran, the secretary general of the Federation of Iranian Food Associations.
Iran’s local media quoted Zargaran as saying that the country exported $2.075 billion worth of food industry products in the nine-month period, 0.5 percent more year-on-year.
Food industry products shared 6.6 percent of Iran’s non-oil exports in terms of value in the same span of time, he added.
Dairy products had the biggest share in Iran’s food exports (30 percent), standing at $620 million, which is 9 percent more year-on-year, Zargaran said.
The aforementioned figure includes $154 million worth of cheese and whey as well as $141 million worth of yogurt.
The volume of dairy exports amounted to 321,000 tons in the nine-month period, 5 percent more compared to the same months of the preceding year.
In the period, Iran exported $414 million worth of sweets and chocolates (including $188 million worth of chocolates).
Export of juice and concentrates witnessed a huge rise by 238 percent in terms of value and reached $99 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The country exported 74,000 tons of products in the period, 28 percent more year-on-year.
The country's flour exports also grew by 886 percent to a value of about $57 million during the period, Zargaran said.
The country's export value of pasta products amounted to about $40 million over the nine-month period, up by 6 percent, he added.
Iranian officials say that the country’s annual agricultural output stands 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.
According to Zargaran, Iran imported 3.396 million tons of food industry products (4 percent more year-on-year), worth $3.464 billion (17 percent more) in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The value of the imported food industry products is equal to 9 percent of the country’s overall imports. Rice ($1.044 billion), soybeans ($957 million), crude vegetable oil ($989 million) and veal ($93 million) topped the list of Iran’s food and agriculture imports in terms of value in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Zargaran said.