December 11, 2012

In the first eight months of Iran's current calendar year which began on March 20, the country has imported some 4.5 million tonnes of wheat.

Mehr News Agency quotes Iran's State Commerce Organisation Managing Director Abbas Qobadi as saying on Sunday (Dec 9).

According to Qobadi, Iran imported the mentioned amount of wheat from US, Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Ukraine, and Germany, and some 2-2.5 million tonnes of wheat is expected to be consumed by the end of the year.

It is while Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) had mentioned in its latest report that Iran wheat imports in the new marketing year are forecasted at 1.7 million tonnes, some 10% below the previous year, mainly due to higher carryover stocks following large purchases in the early months of 2012.

Total cereal imports, however, are forecasted to remain high at 7.5 million tonnes, consisting of corn, wheat and rice.

Iran's state grain buyer continues to build its strategic stocks in light of increased international prices and concerns about domestic food security. Reports indicate that in September 2012 Iran made large purchases of cereals on the international markets. Discussions are underway with specific trading partners.

Facing budgetary concerns, the Government attempted to phase out the subsidy programme. Although some subsidies for staples (milk, bread, rice, vegetables, yoghurt) remain in place, food prices have generally increased.

The latest official information available from the Central Bank published for the period from March 21-April 20, 2012, indicates that the food and beverage price inflation reached 33% relative to the same time period in 2011, and 5.3% relative to the preceding month in 2012. The on-year increase in 2011 for the same period was 25.3%.