"The shipment is part of the 2 million tons of surplus wheat that was produced last year. Back then, the government aimed to export this surplus and the very first shipment headed to the neighboring Oman at around 11 a.m. on June 12. Proper marketing was done in Oman and plans are underway to do the same in Turkey as well as European countries," Mohammad Reza Zarei, the head of Food Bulk Carriage Affairs Office at the Bulk and General Cargo Carriage Company affiliated to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, said.
A few months ago, Sa'dollah Abdollahi, managing director of Khouzestan Ports and Maritime Organization, said the government planned to export between 800,000 tons and 1.5 million tons of wheat from Imam Khomeini Port in the current Iranian year that started on March 21.
Iran also exported 200,000 tons of wheat flour this year for the first time to regional countries and Europe, according to Financial Tribune.
A record high of 14 million tons of wheat were domestically produced last year, more than 11.76 million tons of which worth over $4 billion were purchased by the government from local farmers at guaranteed prices. This helped Iran achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production for the first time in about a decade.
A ceremony attended by President Hassan Rouhani was held last December to celebrate this bumper wheat harvest and self-sufficiency in the production of the crop.
Hassan Abbasi Maroufan, Government Trading Corporation of Iran's commercial affairs deputy, announced that so far, more than 3 million tons of the staple grain worth 36 trillion rials (close to $964 million) have been purchased from local farmers from 20 provinces by GTC.
The southern Khuzestan Province, with more than 1.63 million tons, tops the list of provinces from where purchases have been made. It was followed by Golestan, Fars, Kerman and Ilam with 458,000 tons, 325,000 tons, 177,000 tons and 172,000 tons of purchases respectively.
According to the head of Plant Protection Organization of Iran, wheat production is estimated to decline by 6-7% this year.
"This will be a result of the decrease in precipitation as well as the sunn pest that has infested some rain-fed farms," Mohammad Ali Baghestani was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Baghestani added that despite this decrease in production, hopes are high about attaining wheat self-sufficiency as in the previous year.
GTC is a government-owned company specializing in the purchase, import and distribution of essential foodstuff. It is the lever for enforcing market controls.
The company is also in charge of maintaining a supply of wheat, rice, cooking oil and meat, as the country’s strategic reserve of essential commodities.