Page 42 - IRANRptMar19

Separately, the parliament reminded all governmental organisations and their affiliates that they remain obliged to only use and buy domestic products. Despite the push to support local products, many among Iran’s large middle class continue to prefer purchasing brands like LG and Samsung over local alternatives including Pars Khazar and Pakshoma.
The price differences between local-equivalent products and foreign items have greatly expanded in recent months due to the devaluation of the rial, currently down about 60% against hard currencies since the start of last year. According to one local price comparison site, emalls.ir, a top of the range Pakshoma washing machine currently retails for IRR53mn (€418) while a rival imported Samsung washing machine costs IRR106mn (€837).
9.1.6 Agriculture sector news
Iran has imported 2,000 sheep livestock via airfreight from Romania, Iran Student News Agency has reported.
Iranian officials are increasingly looking for meat supplies from abroad with Iran’s production dipping due to the price of animal feed. It has become expensive to the average Iranian farmer amid the country’s US sanctions-hit economy.
The Romania cargo was reportedly part of a shipment of 50,000 livestock due to enter Iran through Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC).
The Iranian company bringing in the livestock was not named. It was reported as set to bring in around 2,000 live sheep a day. Before being exported to Iran from Romania, sheep must stay in quarantine for 21 days.
In January, following a plane crash outside Tehran , it emerged that Iran’s army had begun shipping in mutton from Kyrgyzstan to meet its demand.
Iran, Russia and Kazakhstan are making progress in organising finance for a long-planned wheat deal that could double or triple supplies to Iran, the secretary general of Iran’s Federation of Food Industry Associations Kaveh Zargaran has told Reuters.
Progress with the financing follows the signing of a wheat trading cooperation memorandum by the three nations on February 12 as part of a larger discussion on setting up a free trade zone between Iran and the Russia-led EEU countries. The talks on wheat trade started a year ago, but stalled due to a lack of funding. The deal would involve Russia and Kazakhstan exporting wheat to Iranian millers, who would, in turn, supply flour to Iraq.
Iran stood as one of the largest markets for Russian wheat until slashing imports in 2016 as part of Tehran’s self-sufficiency drive. Iranian private millers, on the other hand, still need imported wheat as they are not allowed to use domestic wheat for exports. Russia exported 137,500 tonnes of wheat to Iran in the 2017/2018 marketing year.
“In the new agreement of the three sides, it is mentioned that the buyer can use a credit line opened by a bank, so funding [that was a main concern last year] will be settled,” Kaveh Zargaran said without specifying any banks. “In this case, we will notice wheat transit and swaps will be increasing from Russia and Kazakhstan.”
According to Zargan, this would “double or triple” Iran’s wheat imports.
Iran also needs 7.5mn tonnes of feed maize and 3mn tonnes of barley a year - it expects to import 3mn tonnes of maize and 1.5 tonnes of barley from Russia in the next Iranian year, which begins in March.
42 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com