The Agriculture Ministry has raised customs duty on onion export from 50% to 100% to lower prices in the domestic market.
The measure comes as onion registered the highest month-on-month price rise for a food item in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) with 25.4%, latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
Onion was sold for 158,866 rials (38 cents) per kilogram in the month under review.
“Food and beverages”, one of the 12 groups of goods and services surveyed by the Statistical Center of Iran, registered an average annualized inflation rate of 63.6%.
The group’s month-on-month and year-on-year inflation rates stood at -0.1% and 66% respectively.
A total of 246,000 tons of onions worth $34 million were exported from Iran during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Oct. 22), according to the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Export Department.
The exports stood at 162,000 worth $27.2 million in the same period of last Iranian year (March 2021-22).
“The export volume stood at 101,000 tons worth $14 million in the seventh month of the year [Sept. 23-Oct. 22]. Part of this export was due to the increase in Pakistan's demand,” Maharram Soltani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Noting that exports in the seventh month of last year stood at 71,000, he said recent floods in Pakistan have increased the export of vegetable, including onions, to this country.
More than 3 million tons of onions are expected to be produced in Iran in the current year (March 2022-23) on 61,707 hectares of farmland across the country, to register 11.67% decline compared with last year, according to director general of another Agriculture Ministry official.
“During the first half of the year [March 21-Sept. 22], more than 1.4 tons of onions were produced in Iran and we expect 1.6 million tons more to be produced by the fiscal yearend [in March 2023],” Hossein Asghari was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that onions are cultivated in 30 out of 31 Iranian provinces.
“Kerman with 600,000 tons, Fars with 500,000 tons, Hormozgan with 350,000 tons, Isfahan with 350,000 tons and Kermanshah with 200,000 tons are the top five producers of onions in Iran,” he said.
According to Asghari, last year’s production stood at 3.4 million tons and the reason for the declining yield was drought and water scarcity.
“We exported close to 157,000 tons to Pakistan and Iraq during the first six months of the current year. Last year’s overall exports stood at 410,000 tons worth $85.3 million,” he said.
