TEHRAN – Iran exported 325,455 tons of dairy products, valued at over $436 million in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), registering a 13 percent increase in terms of value compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Based on the latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the exports of dairy products in the said period also increased by 16.5 percent in terms of weight, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Among the exported dairy products, butter, ice cream, milk, and condensed cream have decreased in export volume, while other products have increased.

Speaking in an interview with IRNA on October 25, Spokesperson for the Iranian Dairy Industry Association Mohammad-Reza Banitaba said the country’s export of dairies in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22) increased considerably compared to last year’s corresponding period.

According to the official, Iran exported 239.886 tons of dairy products from March 21 to September 22, showing a 17.3 percent rise in weight compared to last year’s corresponding period.

In this period, milk, cream, sour yogurt drinks, and industrial dry milk were among the main dairy products exported from the country, he said, adding that Iran’s export of milk and cream showed a 22.27 percent growth compared to the same period of last year.

Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Republic of Azerbaijan were Iran’s main trade partners in terms of export of dairy products, Banitaba added.

Back in July, a board member of Iran Dairy Industries Society (IDIS) said the country plans to establish milk processing plants (refineries) across the country to increase annual dairy exports up to $2.7 billion.

“Despite the fact that the plan for building milk refineries was chosen as a national plan in the economic headquarters, the plan has been postponed so far,” Gholam-Ali Soleimani said.

Iran was the largest net exporter of dairy in Asia in 2022, according to figures reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In a report published in late June, FAO put Iran’s dairy exports last year at 1.583 million metric tons (mt) while estimating that the country had imported only 86,000 mt of such products over the same period.

The figures, from FAO’s Food Outlook, a biannual report on global food markets, showed that Iran’s dairy exports accounted for 17 percent of the total milk and dairy exports by Asian countries in 2022.

Dairy exports from Iran accounted for 13 percent of the country’s total milk and dairy production last year which reached 7.840 million mt, showed FAO figures which indicated that the output may drop slightly in 2023 to 7.820 million mt.

Iran has introduced extensive measures to ensure food security in the country since 2018 when its oil exports came under American sanctions.

The country has encouraged increased production and exports of agrofood products as part of its plans to reduce reliance on oil exports and to create jobs for its population.

EF/MA