Iran has temporarily banned rice and sugar imports due to oversupply in the market, deputy minister of agriculture, Abbas Keshavarz told ISNA. “The sugar market is saturated with both domestic production and surplus from last year’s imports,” he said, noting that the measure was taken by the ministry to balance the market and support domestic manufacturers. Noting that more than 1.85 million metric tons of rice was produced by Iranian farmers last Persian calendar year (ended March 20), he said it is too soon to estimate the current year’s yield, stressing that no import permit will be issued unless required.
