Page 56 - IRANRptOct22

Price of Iranian rice up 95% in a year says government statistical agency
raise the quantity and quality of Iranian honey production was ongoing, he added.
The programme included providing apiaries with insurance coverage to the risks and ensure sustainable production, Saremi added.
Iranian honey is billed as high-quality and is exported to many countries including China, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Germany, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, and Lebanon.
In the past five years, Iran’s beekeeping industry has shifted its focus from producing only one main product, namely honey, to also producing other bee secretions such as royal jelly and bee venom, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
The price of Iranian rice has leapt by 95% in the past year, according to a report released by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI).
The price per kilogram of Iranian rice in the 11th month of the Persian calendar year (ended February 20) also grew by around 20% m/m, the report added. One factor in the steep price hikes is drought, with the government having to step up imports of rice to counter disappointing Iranian rice harvests.
The Iranian rice price has reached Iranian rial (IRR) 760,000 (around $3 at the free market rate), according to the SCI. However, local reports indicate that the 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.
9.1.3 Automotive sector news
Iran and Russia save each other’s car industries
Russia is turning to Iran to help rescue its car industry. Extreme sanctions imposed on Russia in March have seen its car production come to a screeching halt as essential imported parts are now unavailable. Iran has been under sanctions for decades, but has managed to develop a large automotive sector that caters to its domestic demand, and it is only too happy to help.
Russia’s war has seen hundreds of foreign companies leave the country, but no sector has been harder hit than the automotive. AvtoVaz, maker of the Lada, has seen its production come to a virtual standstill as the company, formerly run by Renault until its exit last month, set up a “spoke and wheel” model that means most of the more sophisticated parts were imported from Western Europe. Those imports have stopped now and the company has few alternative options to replace them.
Sixteen European car manufacturers (including four of the top 10 by market share) sold close to half a million units of Russia’s total sales of 1.67mn in 2021, making the country the eight-largest car market in the world in terms of global sales volumes, and Russia accounted for a fifth (18%) of market leader Renault’s total sales worldwide. Now overnight, almost all those foreign firms have packed their bags and left. Car sales were down by 84% in May and production has come to a virtual standstill, with only 3,000 cars produced in June, according to reports.
Iran has always been on Moscow’s radar as a possible ally in a showdown with the West. Russia has been preparing for economic warfare since at least 2014,
56 IRAN Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com