TEHRAN – Iranian sugar processing plants are expected to produce nearly 1.8 million tons of sugar from sugar beets and sugarcane in the current Iranian calendar year (to end on March 20, 2025), an official with the country’s Agriculture Ministry said.

According to Peyman Hesadi, the director of the Agriculture Ministry’s sugar plants project, told reporters that this production level will meet approximately 82% of the country's domestic sugar demand, bringing Iran closer to self-sufficiency.

He also reported a record-breaking production of over two million tons of autumn sugar beet, noting that more than 30,000 hectares of autumn sugar beet were cultivated across six provinces this year, with about 65% of this cultivation taking place in Khuzestan province.

Despite the harvesting season for autumn sugar beet not yet being complete, over 2,035,000 tons have already been produced and delivered to 18 active sugar factories, the official said.

Hesadi anticipates this figure to reach 2,070,000 tons by the end of the harvesting season.

He emphasized that this level of autumn sugar beet production is unprecedented in the country.

“The achievement is particularly noteworthy considering that autumn sugar beet cultivation requires significantly less water compared to spring cultivation. Approximately 80% of autumn sugar beet farms in Golestan province were rain-fed, achieving a satisfactory yield with just one or two supplemental irrigations.”

He said that more than 250,000 tons of sugar will be extracted from the 2,070,000 tons of autumn sugar beet, bringing the country one step closer to sugar self-sufficiency.

He further noted that achieving complete sugar self-sufficiency in the coming years is entirely feasible, provided that the shortage of industrial capacity in the main autumn sugar beet cultivation areas is addressed.

Considering the favorable conditions of sugarcane farms this year, Hesadi anticipates producing around 750,000 tons of sugarcane sugar, assuming there are no disruptions in water and electricity supply. “Combined with the estimated production of over one million tons of sugar from sugar beet, the total domestic sugar production is expected to reach approximately 1.8 million tons.”