Iran’s wheat storage capacity currently stands at 21.41 million tons, making it one of the Middle East’s largest, according to the Government Trading Corporation.
The silos, located in 158 regions across the country include metal, concrete and mechanized storages with a capacity of 18.01 million tons of wheat for long-term periods and simple semi-mechanized storages with a capacity of 3.4 million tons of the grain for short-term periods, IRNA reported.
GTC says Iran’s demand for wheat storage is close to 11 million tons per year, adding that the surplus storage capacity is used as terminal for temporary imports and redistribution to regional countries, creating revenues and job opportunities for the country.
Rise in Wheat Production
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations expects Iran’s total cereal production to increase 13.5% in 2022 compared with last year to reach 20.3 million tons.
The new quarterly report titled Crop Prospects and Food Situation has put Iran’s 5-year average annual production at 21 million tons.
2021 production was estimated at 17.9 million tons.
Coarse grains production is projected to reach 4.3 million tons in 2022, unchanged compared to last year. Five-year average output has been put at 3.9 million tons.
Wheat production is projected to reach 13 million tons in 2022, up from 10.4 million tons last year.
Five-year average output has been put at 13.5 million tons.
A total of 1.7 million tons of wheat have been imported to Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21, registering a 113% rise compared with the similar period of last year, the Government Trading Corporation of Iran announced last month.
GTC, affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry, is in charge of ensuring adequate supply of basic goods, including wheat, rice, cooking oil, sugar and meat, to the local market.
Iran has imported a total of 96.48 million tons of wheat worth more than $22.84 billion over the past 30 years, the former spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration said recently.
The highest volume of imports were registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 7.43 million tons, 2021-22 with 7.07 million tons and 2001-2 with 6.77 million tons, Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
He added that the lowest volume was registered in the fiscal 2018-19 with only 360 tons.
The private sector has been allowed to place orders for wheat imports as of August 23. The government agreed to take the measure after seven years of banning wheat imports by private traders, according to the head of the Agriculture and Food Processing Commission of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
“In a meeting with first vice president around three months ago, we made our request for the private sector to be allowed to be active in the field of wheat imports. Fortunately, our request was accepted and later the government’s Economic Council agreed to give us the permit. Now a directive allowing private businesses to imports different types of wheat has been communicated to provinces across the country,” Kaveh Zargaran was also quoted as saying by the news portal of TCCIM.
The official added that every year, domestic wheat harvest comes to an end in September, so imports of the grain cannot hurt local farmers at this time.
The Iranian government has purchased 7.15 million tons of wheat worth 827.86 trillion rials ($2.29 billion) from local farmers from the beginning of the harvest season on March 24 to September 14, registering a 58% rise in tonnage compared with the similar period of last year, the CEO of the Government Trading Corporation said.
“The value of this year’s purchases, exceeds that of the years between 2017 to 2021, which stood at an aggregate of 812.03 trillion rials [$2.25 billion],” Saeed Rad was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
This year, guaranteed purchases started from the Provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman and Khuzestan — all in the south of Iran.
The government bought around 4.52 million tons of the grain in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), according to Rad.
Building Up Reserves
The Agriculture Ministry is building up the country’s wheat reserves by constructing new silos across the country.
The first phase of a grain silo construction project in the northern Amirabad Port with a capacity of 25,000 tons came on stream last year. As a result, the port’s grain storage capacity reached 260,000 tons, according to a local official.
“The project, when completed, will have an overall storage capacity of 49,000 tons. Construction on the 7,000 square meter site continues and more than 110 billion rials [$305,000] worth of investments will have gone into the project by the time it is fully inaugurated,” Mohammad Ali Asl-Saeedpour was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
Amirabad is the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest in Iran. The 1,000-hectare port has nine berths, which can accommodate Ro-Ro vessels, trains and trucks.
Mazandaran Ports and Maritime Organization signed a contract with a private sector company to build a silo with the capacity to store 30,000 tons of grains in Noshahr Port last year.
“The private company will be investing a total of 402 billion rials [$1.11 million] in the project. We plan for the silo to be built and inaugurated within two years,” a local official, Mohammad Taqi Anzanpour, said.
He added that when the project is launched Noshahr Port’s silo storage capacity would reach to close to 100,000 tons.
A silo with the capacity to store some 30,000 tons of wheat was launched in the southern Khuzestan Province’s Hamidiyeh County earlier in 2021.
“The private sector has invested 150 billion rials [$416,000] in the construction of this silo,” another local official, Omid Jahan-Najadiyan, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
When the silo becomes operational, he added, the province’s total wheat storage capacity will reach 1.44 million tons, which is more than Khuzestan’s annual wheat yield.
Khuzestan located in the Iranian southwest is Iran’s biggest producer of wheat.
The onstruction of a 100,000-ton grain silo also began in Chabahar's Shahid Beheshti Terminal last year.
The silo is being built on a 3.5-hectare area. It is expected to create about 200 direct job opportunities.
An estimate of $20 million will be put into development of the key project.
Increasing Chabahar's grain storage capacity is expected to help the port play a more significant role in transportation of goods to/from central Asian countries, particularly the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Chabahar, Iran’s sole oceanic port along its southeastern coast, serves as a transit route linking India, Iran and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.
