Iran Raises Guaranteed Purchase Price for Wheat by 15%
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran has announced a 15% increase in the guaranteed purchase price for domestically-grown wheat during the April-July harvest season.
Government spokesman Ali Bahadori tweeted on Thursday that the Cabinet had approved a proposal by the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad (MAJ) to increase the purchase price to 150,000 rials ($0.3) per kilogram.
This year’s domestic purchase price for wheat is 7% higher than the current average international price of $7.6027 per bushel. The move is part of the government's plan to increase its domestic purchase of grains amid a global crunch in markets, worsened by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
MAJ and its subsidiary, the Government Trading Corporation (GTC), expect Iran’s domestic wheat purchases to rise by 13% to 8.5 million metric tons (mt) this year. Last year, the GTC bought 7.2 million mt of wheat from domestic farmers under its guaranteed purchase program, while private buyers purchased 0.3 million mt during the same period.
Iran’s total wheat output reached 13 million mt last year, up from 10.1 million mt in 2021, according to figures by the United Nations food agency FAO. Purchases started earlier this month with the beginning of the harvest in wheat-growing provinces in south and southeastern Iran and will continue until July, when farmers in west and northern Iran deliver their crops.
Meanwhile, farmers represented by Iran’s National Foundation of Wheat Growers had hoped for a 23% increase in the guaranteed purchase price of wheat for this year’s harvest season.
