“Germany was the main destination of Iran’s pistachio, as it imported 3,063 tons of pistachio worth $40 million from Iran, in the first five months of the current fiscal year (started March 21).
Over 61% of Iran’s exported pistachios were dispatched to Germany, Iraq, Kazakhstan, the UAE, India, Spain and Russia, Trend News Agency reported.
However, the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s official statistics indicate that Iranian pistachio exports’ value decreased by 40% to earn $198 million and the volume of exports also decreased by 45% to reach 19,000 tons during the five months, compared with the same period of last year..
“Land under pistachio cultivation in Iran is currently close to 350,000 hectares while during the 2000s, the figure stood at more than 400,000 hectares,” he was quoted as saying by Eranico.
Head of Iran Pistachio Association, Mohsen Jalalpour estimates this year’s production to stand around 230,000 tons, of which some 150,000 tons worth $1.5 billion will be exported to register an 11% and 25% growth in weight and value respectively compared with last year when 135,000 tons worth around $1.2 billion were exported.
According to Jalalpour, who is a former chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Iran is the second biggest producer of pistachio after the US and top exporter of the commodity.