Baku, Azerbaijan, August 21
Trend:
Some 19,000 tons of pistachios and pistachio kernel worth $175 million were exported from Iran in the four months since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started March 21), according to a report by Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization.
The report added that pistachio export witnessed a 3.4 percent and 19.1 percent increase in terms of value and weight during the period under review.
The export of pistachio and pistachio kernel accounted for 55 percent of the country’s total dried fruits and nuts’ exports.
“Iran exported a total of 131,000 tons of dried fruits and nuts worth $319 million,” the report said.
China is the biggest customer, accounting for 50 percent of Iran’s pistachio nut sales. Other major clients are Japan, Hong Kong, the European Union, and Arab countries.
Iran also has the largest acreage of land dedicated to pistachio plantation, spread over more than 20 provinces in the country.
Earlier in July, Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of Iran Pistachio Association, said statistics show the country’s pistachio production has registered an 80 percent fall in the current Iranian fiscal year (started March 21) due to drought and climate changes.
Iran and the US account for 85 percent of world production of pistachios (dry in-shell basis), according to Iran Pistachio Association.
As the biggest pistachio producers in the world, the two countries have always had close rivalry throughout the years in production and exports.