According to a press TV report, the Iranian government’s Trade Corporation (GTC) added on Wednesday that wheat purchases from Iranian farmers reached 5.049 billion MT until July 9th, and purchases continued during the height of the 12-day Israeli invasion last month.
Kzestan Province, southwestern Iran, is responsible for more than 1.4 million mt of supplies, with Golestan in the northeastern region at 0.59 million mt and Furs in the south exceeding 5 million mt.
The company did not provide comparison figures, but said wheat supply in some western provinces increased despite adverse climatic conditions.
The purchase reached around 1,040 trillion rials (nearly $1.2 billion) on valuable terms, adding that the government had paid farmers more than 450 trillion rials until earlier this week.
Iran buys wheat from farmers under a guaranteed purchasing program.
The country’s Ministry of Agriculture (MAJ) said in May that wheat purchases had increased by more than 10% compared to the previous harvest season.
However, it predicts that Iran’s wheat production could fall to 12 million MT this year from over 16 million MT bumper crops reported last year.
Estimates suggest that GTC will purchase a domestic wheat supply of up to 9 million MT until September, when the harvest ends. This means that countries need to import up to 6 million mt of grain to accommodate domestic demand from calendar year to late March.
MNA