Wheat imports began in April and so far around 8 million tons of the staple grain have been purchased from foreign sources, says CEO of the Government Trade Corporation, affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry.
“More than 3 million tons of the purchased wheat have been imported so far and found its way into the local market. The remaining 5 million tons will gradually reach the country’s southern and northern ports to undergo clearance procedures,” Yazdan Seif was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The official noted that in the current fiscal year (started March 21), the government has purchased only 4.53 million tons of wheat from local farmers as part of its guaranteed purchase plan, noting that this was due to an overall decline in production as a result of low precipitation, water scarcity and bad weather conditions.
“This caused a deficit of more than 8 million tons, since our annual domestic demand stands at around 13 million tons. So the government set out to import the crop as soon as possible to be able to meet the local demand and fill the country’s strategic reserves,” he added.
Seif said this year’s demand for wheat has been supplied and businesses, industries, bakeries and other consumers will have no problem in procuring the grain.
According to Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, the head of the Federation of Iranian Food Associations, this year’s wheat production stood close to 5 million tons.
“Drought and water shortage hit after a few years of self-sufficiency. What made matters worse is that the grain, due to its relative low price compared with other animal feed, was used in livestock and poultry farms,” he added.
The official said the country needs to store at least 3 million tons of wheat for its strategic reserves every year when production is normal, but the figure has to increase to 5 million tons at times when the harvest is hit by drought or other factors.
“Global wheat prices have reached their highest in the past five years. Grains in general have experienced a price rise of up to 80% at times. Russia, the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Germany and France are the world’s top wheat producers and Egypt, Iraq and China are the biggest importers,” he said.
Russia Main Wheat Supplier
Mortazavi said Russia is Iran’s main wheat supplier, followed by Germany and some Eastern European countries.
Iran became Russia's largest grain importer by purchasing 3.7 million tons of grain in the current agricultural year (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022), according to the analytical company Prozerno.
"For the first three months of the new season 2021-22, exports to Iran from Russia amounted to 3.697 million tons of grain, including 3.091 million tons of wheat, 392,600 tons of barley and 215,300 tons of corn. Thus, Iran reached first place not only among the importers of Russian wheat and corn but also in the overall standing for all grain types," the statement said.
Experts estimate that Turkey purchased 3.523 million tons of Russian grain, including 2.87 million tons of wheat, 569,200 tons of barley and 73,100 tons of corn. Egypt came in third place with 1.69 million tons of wheat, TASS reported.
The Russian Agriculture Ministry reported earlier that grain exports in the 2021-22 agricultural year decreased by 21.3% and amounted to 13 million tons as of Oct. 14. At the same time, the volume of wheat exports for the season decreased by 18% to reach 11.1 million tons, barley by 34.9% to 1.5 million tons and corn by 56.5% to 0.2 million tons. According to the forecast of Iran’s Agriculture Ministry, for the current agricultural year, grain exports may amount to 45-48 million tons. Agricultural exports from Russia amounted to 48 million tons in 2020-21, including 38.4 million tons of wheat.
