Page 53 - IRANRptSep21

Iran earns $71mn surplus on apples for bananas trade programme
Iran’s annual saffron exports hit 324,000 tonnes
had dropped by nearly 50% in South Khorasan province this year compared to the long-term average and by as much as 80% in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Drought-related water deficits have also led to rolling power cuts in localities supplied by hydroelectric plants. They supply around 15% of Iran's power supply, according to energy ministry data.
Ali Mirchi, an assistant professor in Oklahoma State University's Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, was quoted by Thomson Reuters Foundation on July 28 as saying Iran's water supply was dwindling because of climate change and poor policymaking, while demand was rising, driving shortages.
Iran’s customs office IRICA has reported a surplus of $71.3mn generated by a trade programme in the last Persian calendar year (ended March 20) that conditioned banana imports on apple exports, PressTV has reported. Apple exports from Iran amounted to $326.6mn in value for nearly 885,000 tonnes of shipments. Bananas imported by Iran were worth $255.3mn and weighed in at 375,000 tonnes.
Facing an oversupply of apples, Iran’s agriculture ministry reportedly proposed a system under which banana importers had to sell three kilograms of grade 1 or grade 2 apples to foreign customers in return for permission to import 1 kg of bananas. The programme was said to have helped Iran export more than a fifth of its apple harvest last calendar year.
Iranian apples found their way to 27 countries with Iraq, Russia and Afghanistan the main destinations. Their combined purchases stood at $251mn.
Turkey was the main supplier of bananas to Iran, with nearly $130mn of import shipments registered at IRICA in the year to March. Iran also took delivery of banana cargoes from India, at $54.3mn, and from six other countries. Separately, Mehr News Agency reported on July 15 that the director-general of the Coordinating Office of the Export Promotion Center of Iran (TPOI) has announced that $49mn worth of edible flowers and plants were exported from the country in the first three months of the current Persian year (ended June 21).
Mahmoud Bazari stated that Iran exported 29,000 tonnes of medicinal, edible, ornamented and industrial flowers and plants. Valuable food seasoning saffron accounted for 52 tonnes, with a value of $26mn.
Iranian exports of the prized spice saffron, sometimes referred to as "red gold", reached 324,589 tonnes in the 2020/2021 Persian calendar year (ended March 20), with shipments sent to 60 countries, according to Iranian Customs data.
Exports remained strong in Asia and southern Europe while regional export hubs such as Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the biggest markets. Iranian saffron is often repackaged in foreign markets before being sold on to final destinations in order to avoid sanctions.
Most of Iran's saffron went to Hong Kong (74,578 kilograms worth $46.626mn). Next biggest buyers were the UAE (59,791 kg, $33.942mn), Spain (49,025 kg, $26.44mn), China (40,139 kg, $22.504mn) and Afghanistan (33,781 kg, $19.168mn).
Those five countries accounted for 79% of the saffron exports.
53 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com