Page 19 - IRANRptFeb21

agency quoted Iranian officials and traders as disclosing the situation as a reality despite President Hassan Rouhani’s assertions that the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis would not endanger food supplies to the Middle Eastern country.
The urgency has reportedly prompted Iran to alter its approach to buying commodities, seeking out direct contracts—rather than announcing international purchasing tenders— with smaller-sized trading houses.
Iran needed to import 4mn tonnes of wheat, 1.5mn tonnes of barley, 700,000 tonnes of raw sugar and 4mn to 5mn tonnes of corn, in the Iranian year ended March 2021, a senior agriculture ministry official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, was cited as saying.
As a country of 83mn, Iran is one of the world’s largest consumers of bread. It requires around 16mn tonnes of wheat annually.
Competition for international commodities is heating up as governments move to buy more to shore up their reserves, spurred into action by lockdowns. They have slowed supply chains and triggered export curbs.
Iran’s economy is set to fall deeper into recession this fiscal year and foreign reserves could drop to $73bn by March, a loss of almost $40bn in two years, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) stated in January.
4.2.2​ PPI dynamics
Iran’s autumn PPI turns negative for first time in four years
PMI for Iran falls
Iran’s producer price inflation (PPI) stood at -2.3% in the autumn period (September-December), marking the first negative reading for four years, the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) announced on February 1.
According to the data—compiled by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI)—the lowest figure was recorded for the coal industry and oil refineries (-10.7%). Next were paper and paper products (-4.6%) and petrochemicals (-2%).
The highest inflation rates in industry were for office and computing appliances (26.6%), garment production, processing, and dying (9.5%) and transportation equipment production (7.8%).
A purchasing managers’ index (PMI) provided by the Iran Chamber gives
19​ IRAN Country Report February 2021 www.intellinews.com