Iran has reported a major surge in domestic wheat purchases with an official in the country’s agriculture ministry (MAJ) saying that purchases have risen by 37% in the harvest period between April and early August compared to the same period last year.
MAJ’s deputy for Arable Farming said on Monday that the government had purchased more than 9 million metric tons (mt) of wheat from domestic farmers since April.
Mohajer said the figure was an increase of more than 104% compared to April-August 2021, adding that an increase in dry-land farming activity was a major factor in promising yields of the crop in Iran this year.
CEO of Government Trading Corporation (GTC), a MAJ subsidiary responsible for supply of staple grains in Iran, said on Monday that wheat purchases in some provinces in the country had nearly doubled this year compared to last year.
Saeid Raad said southern provinces of Khuzestan and Fars were the largest suppliers of wheat in Iran this year by delivering 1.72 million mt and nearly 1 million mt of wheat to GTC silos, respectively.
Raad said the value of wheat purchased from Iranian farmers since April had exceeded 1,340 trillion rials ($268 million), adding that up to 70% of the payments to wheat farmers in the country had already been settled.
The domestic wheat purchase figure announced by the MAJ on Monday is 1 million mt above what had been anticipated in government forecasts announced earlier this year.
Experts say a favorable price of 150,000 rials ($0.3) per kilogram offered for wheat under government’s guaranteed purchase program has been a major factor in promising purchases this year.
Estimates suggest that total wheat output in Iran could reach 14.5 million mt this year, up from 13.2 million mt reported in 2022.