TEHRAN: Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization has announced that the country’s pistachio exports have had a growing trend during the past year. The organization says Iran’s pistachio exports touched $1.24 billion in the 12 months to March 2017, up 3% year on year. The product hit Asian and European markets. The pistachio is one of the pivots of Iran’s agriculture sector and is regarded as the country’s superior agricultural produce in world markets.
Pistachio exports can be increased by improving its quality, promoting quality control systems, enforcing an efficient management approach in warehousing systems and using modern techniques in production and trade, according to a Farsi report by IRNA. Iran’s pistachio exports reached $1.202 billion in the year to March 2016, based on figures released by the Iranian Customs Office. Iran’s pistachios were exported to Hong Kong, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany last year. Pistachios accounted for 2.2 percent of Iran’s total exports from March 2014 to March 2017, according to statistics by the Customs. Well over $700 million worth of pistachios were exported in the year to March 2014. The figure rose to around $780 million the following year. The rock-bottom price for each tonne of pistachios was just more than $8,000 in the year to March 2015. The total exports hit $976 million in the year to March 2017, when the rock-bottom price was around $8,500 for each tonne.
According to officials, nearly 170 thousand tonnes of pistachios were produced in the year to March 2017, 20% of which was used for domestic consumption and the rest exported. In the same period, more than 100,000 tonnes of pistachios were exported via the country’s customs checkpoints, which means currently between 40 and 50 thousand tonnes of pistachios are kept in warehouses in the country.
