Six-month pistachio exports rise
Iran pistachio’s exports in the six months from March 21-September 22 witnessed an overall growth compared to the figure for the same period last year.
According to the statistics released by the Agricultural and Processing Industries’ Export Coordination Bureau, pistachio exports in the first month stood at $33 million, registering a five-percent growth year-on-year, IRIB reported.
Pistachio supply hit a decline in the next two months, creating some problems for exporters who had made commitments to their international customers.
Water shortage and climate change are affecting Iran’s pistachio orchards.
Exports, however, again picked up in the fourth month, bring in $49 million to post a significant increase of 63 percent against the amount for the same period last year.
Growing trend of pistachio exports continued during the following two months before September 22 with exports hitting $44 and $40 million during the fifth and six months respectively, registering an increase of 83 percent and 90 percent respectively YOY.
Iranian pistachio production is predicted to be significantly lower this year.
However, the rapid depreciation of Iran’s currency has made the product very expensive for domestic buyers, paving the way for more export.
Iran meets more than 50 percent of the demand in world pistachio market. The country’s main rival in pistachio production is the US state of California.
Over the past decade, the US has doubled the acreage devoted to pistachio plantation and turned into a major rival for Iran.
The US, Ukraine, the UAE, Italy, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Turkey, Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, France, Poland, Sweden, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Thailand, Japan, Romania and Hong Kong are among the main buyers of Iranian pistachio.pistachio nuts were the top foreign exchange earner among Iran’s agricultural exports at $972 million in the nine months from March 2017, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.