TEHRAN – The director of the 23rd Iran International Confectionary Fair says the country has the capacity to export $2.0 billion of confectionary products every year, IRNA reported.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the mentioned exhibition in Tehran on Wednesday, September 18, Jamshid Maghazehei put the value of the country’s confectionary exports in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) at $350 million, saying the figure has declined nearly 70 percent compared to the previous years.

“Currently, the production capacity of Iran's confectionery industry is 3.4 million tons per year, but most of this capacity is idle and the industry operates with only two million tons of its capacity,” he said.

According to the official, the sanctions are the main reason for the decrease in Iran’s confectionary export.

“The main reason for the decrease in exports in this industry is the sanctions against Iran, which has created problems such as lack of raw materials, exchange rate fluctuations, interruption in the supply of basic goods such as sugar, oil, flour, fuel and energy, as well as currency transfers,” he said.

The 23rd Iran International Confectionary Fair kicked off at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds on Wednesday to continue for four days.

EF/MA