Iran has imported a total of 1.8 million tons of wheat from Russia in 2022 to register a 54.5% decline compared with 2021.
Iran was Russia’s third biggest buyer of the grain last year, Mehr News Agency reported.
Turkey was the top importer of Russian wheat with 4 million tons of purchases, registering a 5.2% fall. Egypt was the second biggest with 3.5 million tons, registering a 12.6% rise compared with 2021.
Saudi Arabia followed Iran with 1.5 million tons, registering a 119.2% rise. Fifth was Algeria with 1 million tons, up 270.3%.
“A total of 11.5 million tons of wheat were produced on over 4.9 million hectares of farms across Iran during the past crop year [September 2021-22], registering a 45% rise compared with the previous year,” the head of Agriculture Ministry’s manager of “Wheat Project” said recently.
“The reason for the rise is that the government increased its guaranteed purchase prices by 130% last year. The Agriculture Ministry reduced prices of inputs, including fertilizers and pesticides, by 50%. These measures encouraged farmers to cultivate the staple grain,” Sohrab Sohrabi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Considered a staple in Iran, wheat is purchased every crop year by the government to build up its reserves and supply the market over time.
The official added that this crop year, wheat has been planted on over 1.58 million hectares of irrigated and 3.48 million hectares of rain-fed land so far and the overall figure is estimated to reach 6 million hectares.
Production Estimates
Cultivation is currently in progress in Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Ilam, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Ardabil, Golestan, Mazandaran, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Yazd and Isfahan provinces.
“We estimate that wheat harvest will yield more than 12 million tons this year and the government will purchase around 9 million tons of the sum,” the official said.
According to Sohrabi, domestic demand for wheat stands at 13.5 million tons per year.
Some 10 million tons of the sum are used to supply bread, 2 million tons are used for industrial purposes (pasta, biscuit, pastry production), around 1.2 million tons are used for seeds and the remaining by villagers and nomads.
“Only 17% of the agricultural land across the world are under wheat cultivation, yet in Iran the figure stands at 50%,” he said, adding that Iranians get 40% of their daily energy from wheat on average, while the global share stands at 20%.
CEO of Government Trading Corporation Saeed Rad said earlier this month that about 4 million tons of wheat were imported into Iran during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Nov. 21).
“Our wheat reserves have increased by 2 million tons this year, which means a 40% year-on-year rise,” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
GTC, affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry, is in charge of ensuring the adequate supply of essential goods, including wheat, rice, cooking oil, sugar and meat, to the local market.
Iran has imported 96.48 million tons of wheat worth $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 was 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.
Private Imports Allowed
The private sector has been allowed to place orders for wheat imports from Aug. 23, after 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 the 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 import 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 said every year, domestic wheat harvest comes to an end in September, so imports of the grain cannot hurt local farmers at this time.
