The Iranian government has lifted its curbs on exports of dates from the country just ahead of the holy month of Ramadan when demand for dates soars in Muslim countries.
Governor of Iran’s Kerman province Mohammad Mehdi Fadakar said on Tuesday that the government had lifted its 50% duty on dates exports to help farmers and exporters increase their sales during Ramadan.
Fadakar said a first shipment of 8,000 metric tons (mt) of dates had been exported from Kerman province on Monday after Iran’s agriculture minister announced the easing of restrictions on dates exports.
Iran is the world’s second largest supplier of dates after Egypt with some 1.3 million mt of annual production. The country exported some $270 million worth of dates in the 10 months to January.
Kerman is the second largest producer of dates in Iran after the southwestern province of Bushehr.