August 18, 2025

Iran to boost wheat imports till late March next year

Iran is expected to significantly increase its wheat imports in the calendar year to late March 2026 amid a fall in domestic production that has been caused by drought and low government purchase prices.

The head of Iran's National Syndicate of Wheat Farmers said on August 17 that wheat imports into the country are expected to reach some 4.5 million metric tons in the year to late March.

Ataollah Hashemi said that domestic wheat production in Iran had fallen by five million mt or 31% to nearly 11 million mt year on year in the April-August harvesting season, adding that the government's purchases of locally-produced wheat had also declined by 4.4 million mt or 36% to 7.6 million mt over the same period.

Hashemi said that the value of wheat purchased from Iranian farmers was around IR1,600 trillion. He added that the fall in the domestic wheat crop was mainly due to a drought that affected dry-land farming across Iran as well as government purchase rates that were lower than free market prices.

Officials in the Iranian ministry of agriculture said in April that the country may be forced to import up to six million mt of wheat this calendar year to respond to the rising domestic demand for the grain.

Iran spent more than $3 billion last year to buy nearly 12 million mt of wheat from its farmers.

The bumper crop enabled the government to declare self-sufficiency in wheat production and stop placing orders for sizable shipments of the crop from countries like Russia.

- Press TV