Page 61 - IRANRptAug22

Iran reportedly wins access to China’s citrus fruits and honey markets
Jump in Iran’s wheat exports logged in first Persian quarter
Union warns mass closures of Iranian poultry farms could be ahead because of state price caps
actual price encountered by consumers on the market was around IRR1mn. That suggests the price of a kilogram of rice has actually grown by around 200% y/y.
Food prices in Iran have been growing at a much higher rate than official annual general inflation of 42%. Annual rises of around 60% or more are typical, according to government figures.
Food items subject to hefty inflation include sugar, meat, chicken and eggs, as well as cooking oil.
Iran has reportedly won access to China’s potentially highly lucrative citrus fruits and honey markets.
Exports are to start under new agreements struck by Tehran and Beijing, according to IRIB News. The deals were signed virtually on July 28 by Iranian agriculture minister Javad Sadatinejad and China’s customs chief Yu Jianhua, it said.
Sadatinejad told the media outlet that Iranian farmers and exporters could now access China’s $600-mn citrus fruit market while Iranian honey producers would have the chance to compete on China’s vast and profitable honey market.
The two deals were said to outline the required hygiene and safety protocols. Government figures show Iran’s annual production of citrus fruits amounts to around 5.5mn tonnes/year, while honey output stands at around 130,000 tonnes/year.
Agrifood shipments only account for around 15% of Iran’s annual exports to China, official customs data shows.
Iran’s imports of wheat in the first quarter of the Persian calendar year (March 21-June 21) surged to 1.73mn tonnes, ISNA reported on July 9, citing government data.
The news agency said Iran spent over $718mn on wheat imports in the three months, with the outlay accounting for 16% of total resources spent by the country on imports of basic goods, including grains and medicine. It did not compare the import volume with the data on the first quarter of the previous Persian year. However, Iran’s wheat imports in that year running to March 21 amounted to 7mn tonnes at a cost of $2.5bn, or 13% of funds expended on importing basic goods.
The jump in Iran’s wheat imports comes despite the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) lately forecasting that Iran’s wheat output will increase by 25% to reach 13mn tonnes this year, up 13.5%.
Iran, however, remains wary of two big risks lying ahead. Firstly, the level of crop damage that will be caused by searing summer temperatures and drought could turn out to be worse than expected and, secondly, the fact that Russia and Ukraine, the world’s two main grain suppliers, remain at war will cause an as yet to be determined contraction in global wheat exports.
Iran could see mass closures of poultry farms in the next three months as a result of a government plan to rein in food inflation with price caps, Sarpoosh has reported.
Habib Asadollahnejad, CEO of the National Union of Broiler Farmers was cited by the Iranian publication as saying that average production costs in the industry were nearly 50,000 tomans per kg ($1.51 based on the free market exchange rate), while the wholesale price was limited to 30,000 tomans per kg ($0.90).
61 IRAN Country Report August 2022 www.intellinews.com