TEHRAN, Iran, Aug. 17
Trend:
The secretary of Iran Rice Association said that restrictions imposed by India and Pakistan on rice exports to Iran will affect the price of rice in Iran.
"We've had good rain throughout the winter and early spring, which will lead to increase in rice production this year,” Secretary of Iran Rice Association Jamil Alizadeh Shayegh said, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"Last year, the amount of rice production in the country reached 2.4 million tons,” he said adding that this year, the production volume is expected to be higher.
Alizadeh Shayegh added that despite the increase in production, due to rising production costs and restrictions on foreign rice imports, price reduction is unlikely.
"Iran mainly imports rice from India and Pakistan, which have severely limited volumes of their rice export to Iran due to the tightening of sanctions and the non-approval of the FATF-related bills by Iran,” he said.
Talking about possible price of domestic rice, he noted: "We are currently at the beginning of the rice harvest season, and the supply has not yet reached its maximum, but the highest quality rice can be purchased up to $6 per kilogram."
According to ILNA, Pakistan and India, which are the main sources of foreign rice imports to Iran, have limited their export of rice to Iran due to rising pressure of sanctions and the problems which have arisen following Iran's listing in the FATF black list.
These factors led to foreign rice prices to triple since the beginning of the Iranian year (started on March 20).