TEHRAN - Iran exported 60,000 tons of eggs to the target countries during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), Reza Torkashvand, the head of Producers of Egg-Laying Hens Union, said.

According to the official, Iraq and Afghanistan have been the major destinations for the Iranian eggs in the mentioned period, IRNA reported.

He put the country’s egg production in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) at over one million tons and said: “With the current levels of production, it is possible to export about 100,000 tons of this product annually, but it must be done with management and in different seasons to maintain the domestic market stability.”

Torkashvand had previously said that the country’s aviculture farms are expected to export up to 80,000 tons of eggs in the current year (ends on March 20, 2021).

According to the official, 10,000 tons of eggs were exported to the neighboring countries during the first month of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-April 19).

Iranian eggs are currently exported to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Qatar, Torkashvand said.

Last year, nearly 1.1 million tons of eggs were produced in the country, of which more than 41,000 tons were exported to target countries.

A total of 900,000 tons of eggs were produced in the preceding year of 1397 (ended on March 20, 2019), 90 percent of which were by industrial units and the rest by local farmers.

According to the Deputy Agriculture Minister Morteza Rezaei, Iran is the 10th biggest egg producer in the world and fifth in Asia.

Each Iranian person consumes an average of 200 eggs annually.

EF/MA