NZ resumes lamb trading with Iran
New Zealand is about to resume shipments of lamb to Iran, after a gap of two decades.
Wellington processor Taylor Preston will ship a modest 60 tonnes of frozen cuts to mark the resumption of the trade on May 22.
Taylor Preston chief executive Simon Gatenby said the company was looking to do more business with Iran.
‘‘The reason we’re doing this is to develop the trade, it’s a nice easy order to start with, it allows us to get a bit of volume into the market and allow it to be tested.’’
Farmers supplying the late season lambs were being paid a premium of $6.10 per kilogram. New Zealand’s largest meat processing company Silver Fern Farms is in talks with Iranian officials, but shipments are not likely until the new season.
The trade was in its heyday in the 1980s when there were 22 sheep for every Kiwi, and high volume markets were desperately needed. Back then Iran took more than 100,000 tonnes of frozen carcasses a year, or one lamb in four.
The renewed trade follows a February visit by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy who signed a veterinary agreement to enable chilled and frozen lamb and beef exports to the Islamic Republic.
Relations have warmed since international sanctions against Tehran were eased after an accord was reached in 2015 on Iran’s nuclear programme, at a time when New Zealand held the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council.
Gatenby said the lamb would be sold for retail and domestic consumption.
‘‘We’ve sold the Iranians essentially a full carcass but we’ve broken it into six main primal cuts - two legs, two loins and two shoulders,’’ Gatenby said.
Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said Iran was significant because it was where New Zealand had ‘‘cut its teeth’’ in developing the capacity and expertise to service the needs of Muslim customers.