Iran exported some 300,000 tons of dairy products during the first five months of the current Iranian year (started March 20), said Deputy Agriculture Minister Hassan Rokni on Wednesday. “The figure is estimated to exceed 600,000 tons by the yearend (March 2017),” he was quoted as saying by IRNA. Secretary-General of the Federation of Iranian Food Industries Association Kaveh Zargaran said overpriced raw materials have pushed the price of dairy produce in Iran to three times the global rates, effectively eating away at producers’ competitive edge in international markets. Iranian dairy products only have Iraq and a handful of Central Asian countries as export destinations. There are some 600 dairy firms in Iran.
