Tea exports from Iran stood at 33,600 tons worth $41.2 million during the first 11 months of last Iranian year (March 21, 2022-Feb. 19), according to latest statistics released by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration.
The figures indicate a 38% or 9,000-ton rise in terms of weight and a 62% or $16-million increase in value when compared with 24,383 tons worth $25.45 million of exports in the corresponding period of the year before.
Azerbaijan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the UAE, Ukraine, Albania, Germany, Bahrain, Belarus, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden, Iraq, Russia, France, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Canada, Kuwait, Georgia, the Netherlands and India were the 27 export destinations of Iranian tea during the period, IRIB News reported.
Considering the 52% rise in the guaranteed purchase of green tea leaves in the fiscal 2023-24, exports are expected to register a further rise in the current Iranian year.
“Iran’s domestic demand for tea stands around 100,000 tons per year. Our annual production has been hovering between 25,000 tons and 30,000 tons for a few years now, as imports stand at between 60,000 and 70,000 tons every year,” Habibollah Jahansaz, the head of Iran Tea Organization, has been quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
According to the official, 5 million tons of tea are produced globally every year and Iran ranks the world’s 12th biggest cultivator.
“Iranian tea is among the finest produced in the world and is cultivated pesticide-free, therefore there are no pollutants or residue chemicals affecting its quality and taste,” he said.
There are more than 28,000 hectares of tea plantations in Iran, 22,000 hectares of which bear yields, according to Iran Tea Organization.
More than 55,000 farmers earn their living through tea cultivation in Iran’s northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran.
Some 90% of Iran’s tea plantations are located in Gilan Province.
The city of Lahijan is Iran’s tea production capital.
The crop undergoes three harvests a year: the spring harvest that starts in late April, the second in summer begins early June and the last one is in autumn and starts late September.
