Iran Pistachio Exports Grow 31% to 27K Tons (Mar-Sep 2018)

This shows a 31.2% and 26.7% growth in weight and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year, figures shared by Iran Pistachio Association with Financial Tribune show.

The main export destinations for this Persian delicacy were China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, some EU member states, India, the littoral states of Persian Gulf, Turkey, the UAE and CIS countries.

Last year, Deputy Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mojtaba Khosrotaj, who doubles as the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, told us that Iran supplies pistachio to more than 50% of the world markets, Financial Tribune reported.

Exports during the last crop year (September to August) hit 118,000 tons worth around $1.04 billion, registering a decline of 15.7% and 20% in volume and value respectively year-on-year.

Last crop year’s production, according to Manmoud Abtahi, the head of Iran Pistachio Association, stood at 225,000 tons, indicating more than a 47% rise compared with the preceding year’s 153,000 tons.

“This year, production is estimated to see a drastic fall and stand between 50,000 tons and 55,000 tons due to the heat wave in the spring, which caused damage to pistachio orchards on top of the persisting water shortage,” he told us in July.

The pistachio tree is an alternate bearing one, meaning it may produce a greater than average volume one year, called “on-year”, and a lower than average amount the following year, called “off-year”. 

Abtahi said this year is going to be a bad off-year.

The official believes pistachio exports will not be affected by the reimposition of US sanctions. Rather, he said, what has always influenced exports of the nut has been the amount of production.  

Pistachio, he added, is currently cultivated in 19 provinces across the country.