Some 1.3 million tons of sugar are estimated to be produced in the current Iranian year (started March 21), an official with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, Ebrahim Hezarjarib, said.
Iran’s sugar consumption, according to the official, stands at 2.2 million tons a year, ISNA reported.
Private traders, he said, are allowed to import 900,000 tons of sugar every year.
Since the production season is on, imports are temporarily banned by the government to protect sugarcane farmers. Apart from imports by private traders, the government also imports 300,000 tons of sugar annually for its strategic reserves.
Production capacity is slowly growing, as shown by the opening of a new sugar mill in Oshnavieh in West Azarbaijan Province with a 500,000-ton capacity in 2013, according to the Business Monitor International.
