The Sixth International Fisheries Industry Exhibition of Iran, also known as IFEX 2022, is scheduled to be held at Tehran’s International Fairground from Nov. 20-23.
A total of 112 companies active in the fields of fishing equipment, seafood processing, packaging, fish feed, ornamental fish production machinery, cooling equipment and machinery, water refinery, mechanization and expansion, seaweed and leeches, seafood marketing, banking and credit institutes, insurance companies and related organizations will be taking part in the four-day event.
The exhibition aims to link experts and businesspeople active in the field for transferring their data and technical knowhow, expand cooperation and provide new opportunities for marketing and exports.
Iran is a major seafood producer in the region with trout, caviar and shrimp being its main exported products.
A total of 1.19 million tons of seafood were produced in Iran during the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), registering a 6.27% decline compared with the year before, according to data released by Iran Fisheries Organization.
Of the total sum, 650,748 tons were harvested from the sea and 538,367 tons were farmed to register a respective decline of 9% and 3%.
A total of 166,000 tons of seafood worth $554 million were exported from Iran during the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), registering a 19% and 14% rise in tonnage and value respectively compared with the year before, according to the head of Iran Fisheries Organization.
“About 700,000 tons of seafood were harvested from the sea and more than 610,000 tons from aquaculture farms across the country,” Hossein Hosseini was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The southern Bushehr Province is Iran’s shrimp production hub.
Hormozgan, also in the south of the country, is another major producer.
“A total of 17,325 tons of shrimp were exported from Iran to China during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Oct. 22), registering a 360% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year when stood at 4,790 tons,” says Abbas Mokhtari, an official with the Agriculture Ministry.
He added that shrimp exports to Russia registered a 5% rise to stand at 1,205 tons during the period from 1,145 tons in last year’s corresponding period, IRNA reported.
Data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show a total of 36,300 tons of shrimp were exported to 22 countries in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), registering a record.
The volume of exports marked a 140% rise compared with the 10-year average (15,300 tons) and a 67% increase compared with the five-year average (21,750 tons), Seairan.com reported.
Aquatics Production and Trade Union of Iran wrote on its website that 95% of last year’s overall exports were farmed shrimp.
Iran’s main export destinations during the period under review were China with 14,200 tons, the UAE with 11,200 tons and the Russian Federation with 4,150 tons. Other traditional customers of Iranian shrimp are Turkey, Iraq, Spain and France.
