Bank Keshavarzi Iran, Export Development Bank of Iran and Bank Mellat will lend loans to economic operators engaged in the production, processing and export of saffron, based on a memorandum of understanding with the Plan and Budget Organization.
“The outbreak of coronavirus and sanctions have disrupted saffron exports and caused its prices to plummet; loans worth 10,000 billion rials [$35 million] have been envisioned to support different sectors of saffron production, packaging and exports,” Hamid Pourmohammadi, a senior official with PBO was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
“Bank Mellat and Export Development Bank of Iran will offer 2,500 billion rials [$8.7] each and Bank Keshavarzi will grant loans worth 5,000 billion rials [$17.5] at the interest rate of 18%. The Plan and Budget Organization will pay 3% of the lending rate, therefore the interest rate of these credits will reduce to 15% for the borrower,” he added.
A total 37.64 tons of saffron worth $38.58 million were exported from Iran to 52 countries during the first quarter of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 20), according to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
“Hong Kong with 12.73 tons worth $14.4 million was the main export destination followed by Spain with 9.19 tons and the UAE with 3.48 tons,” Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Other customers of Iranian saffron in Q1 were Italy, South Korea, Sweden, France and China.
Latifi noted that 115,000 hectares out of the 122,000 hectares under saffron cultivation in the world is located in Iran.
“We account for 94% of the global saffron output. Last [Iranian] year [March 2019-20], some 500 tons of the crop were harvested, 80% of which were exported.”
The official said this year's saffron exports were halted by the outbreak of novel coronavirus in mid-February.
Gholamreza Miri, the deputy head of Iran's National Saffron Council, said in July that Iran resumed saffron exports.
“Iran’s saffron export destinations are struggling with the novel coronavirus just like we are. The international markets are in doldrums and demand for this Persian delicacy has fallen. As a result, saffron prices have dropped as well,” he added.
The official told Young Journalists Club that Iran exported 251 tons of saffron during the last fiscal year that ended on March 19, 2020, registering no significant change compared to the year before.
“We are hoping that after the pandemic is over, markets will return to business and the decline in exports experienced so far this year can be compensated,” he said.
The lion’s share of Iranian saffron is exported by air.
“Land under saffron cultivation has increased in Iran,” Miri said adding that the crop is being cultivated in 23 provinces across the country this year.
“Due to favorable weather and high precipitation levels, an ample harvest is on the horizon.”
The saffron industry in Iran has created around 200,000 jobs along the pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest, processing, sorting and packaging chain. The livelihoods of these people, farmers in particular, depend largely on exports.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Ali Tahmasebi said Iran’s area under saffron cultivation is 20 times bigger than the total land dedicated to growing saffron in the world, adding that Iran is annually increasing the area by 5,000 hectares.
Tahmasebi said planting saffron is no longer restricted to the three provinces of North Khorasan, South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi.
“Farmers now also harvest saffron in various parts of the country, including Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province, a cold and mountainous region in central Iran, as well as in Khuzestan, a southern province known for its hot and humid climate,” he said.
Per capita consumption of saffron in Iran stands at 1 gram. Annually, 80 tons of saffron are consumed domestically.
