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Iran domestic wheat purchases surpass 5m mt in 3 months: GTC
In a statement released Wednesday, the GTC said that total wheat purchases had reached 5.049 million mt as of July 9. It noted that procurement efforts continued uninterrupted even during last month’s 12-day Israeli assault, underscoring the government's commitment to food security amid external challenges, Press TV reported.
Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran led all regions with over 1.4 million mt of wheat delivered, followed by Golestan in the northeast at 590,000 mt, and Fars in the south with just over 500,000 mt, the GTC reported. While no comparative figures from last year were provided, the agency indicated that several western provinces saw higher procurement volumes this year, despite unfavorable weather conditions.
The value of total purchases so far has approached 1,040 trillion rials (approximately $1.2 billion), with more than 450 trillion rials already disbursed to farmers, according to the GTC. Iran acquires domestic wheat under a guaranteed purchase scheme, which this season has set a fixed price of 205,000 rials (around $0.25) per kilogram.
In May, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that wheat procurement had increased by more than 10% compared to the previous season. However, the ministry also forecast that total wheat production this year could drop to around 12 million mt, down from over 16 million mt in 2024’s bumper crop.
Projections suggest the GTC may purchase up to 9 million mt of domestically produced wheat by the end of the harvest in September. This would mean the country would need to import up to 6 million mt of the grain to be able to respond to domestic demand in the calendar year to late March.
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