Speaking to ILNA, Ali Hosseini said that currently 90% of the total saffron in the world is produced in Iran but the country is unable to sell its saffron based on own price. He then pointed to the lack of infrastructure in production, distribution and trade of saffron in the country, noting that everybody expects any domestic product to surge in exports but it is better to take infrastructural measures than accusing others or ordering others because we need infrastructural measures to protect the position of the domestic saffron in the international market.

Hosseini blamed drought for the decline in production this year, adding that this year saffron production has slumped by 70% comparing to the same period last year.

He said for 30 years Iran has been the top saffron producers in the world but it has not taken any practical action in saffron processing industries.

He added that in the first 9 months this year, Iran’s saffron exports have declined by 60% comparing to the same period last year and all should work to find the reason and to improve it.

Hosseini went on to say that due to multiple rise in the price of saffron, foreign purchasers do not have any appetite to buy saffron, adding that Iranians want to sell their saffron based on their own price while foreigners want to buy it based on the logical price for offering it in the international market.

He admitted that Iran’s neighboring countries are trying to overtake Iran’s position in the international saffron market. He said 30 years ago Spain was the world number one saffron producer  but Iranians could take over the place of Spain though producing high quality saffron with lower prices but the history may repeat and Spain tops the world ranking if Iran does not offer good quality saffron with logical price.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s National Council of Saffron says the outbreak of the Coronavirus has caused a decline in Iran’s saffron export especially in the countries which are Iran’s export destinations.

Speaking to ISNA, Mohsen Ehtesham said that last year and despite all woes and restrictions, saffron exporters in the country did their best to protect their shares of saffron exports in the international market but in last months of the year, they faced serious problems.

He admitted that unfortunately the virus has had negative impact on the business and trade worldwide and saffron is an export commodity which is mostly exported by air transportation while all flights were almost cancelled.

Ehtesham who is also the chairman of Birjand Chamber of Commerce added that in March and April, there were no flights in the country or the number of flights was in the lowest level, hence, saffron exports in the country declined or even came to a halt because of lack of means of transportation.

He added that now the country also faces fall in exports in the international markets and domestic demand for this commodity has also faced serious drop. He pointed to the lockdown of city of Mashhad which is the major religious tourism destination in the country hosting some 6m people annually and saffron is the major souvenir of the city. He said for this reason the domestic demand has declined by 80 percent.

Ehtesham noted that European countries like Italy, Sweden, Germany and France as well as China and the U.S. are the major markets for export of saffron which all have faced lockdown, and in exporting saffron to Arabian countries like the UAE as well as India, exporters have faced problem.

He admitted that although Iran is the biggest producer of saffron in the world, unfortunately nobody knows it because the country has not promoted this commodity properly in the world.

He expressed hope that in June and after relaxing restrictions and lifting lockdowns in the world, flights would resume and exporting saffron may be eased.

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So far, about 25 Saffron farmers cooperatives in 6 provinces of the country have been established as an agricultural organization.

“The most important role these organizations can play in empowering saffron farmers is to follow the demands of farmers from the public sector and other sectors. And in dealing with other economic sectors of the country, they can address the problems, obstacles, and challenges facing saffron farmers,” Shirzad, who is also the chairman and CEO of the Central Organization of Rural Cooperatives  (CORC) of Iran, said.

“To that end and in order to defend the rights and interests of saffron producers, supporting the supply and production chain and the value of the saffron industry is essential to establish a national union,” Shirzad noted, adding, “The organization can be especially effective in marketing, balancing and regulating the saffron market.”

The Union of Saffron farmers Co-operatives is an organization with an economic and social approach that can, within the framework of its laws and regulations, regulate saffron farmers’ cooperatives to achieve their legitimate interests in accordance with the principles of cooperative law. Approved by the year 1971, he added.

Also, Shirzad continued, the Union can collaborate and interact with government and non-governmental sectors such as training and transferring the up to date scientific information to saffron farmers, pursuing easy access of farmers to agricultural inputs, striving for better marketing of saffron crops. , liaising with the government and influencing saffron policymaking and ultimately Strengthening the economic and welfare vigor of saffron farmers.

He pointed to the experiences of other national unions in the field of agriculture and the countryside and added that the National Union of Saffron Farmers’ Co-operatives in Saffron Marketing certainly has a higher degree of interaction and coordination and bargaining power than individual Saffron farmers and Even co-operatives.

And it can help saffron growers to sell their products at a more suitable price, he underlined.

Shirzad highlighted the Rural Cooperative Organization move to make non-guaranteed purchase of saffron from farmers that eliminates dealers and intermediaries from the saffron market and said: In general, the purpose of the Rural Cooperative in non-guaranteed purchase of agricultural products is to balance, regulate the market and prevent severe fluctuations in agricultural prices and its gradual supply.

In conclusion, Shirzad said the National Union and Saffron Co-operative Companies can contribute to balancing and regulating the saffron market with Rural Cooperative Organization and can apply saffron farming policies and Technical issues, production and operation of this strategic product play an important role in specialized departments, including the Department of Horticulture.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran has adopted special measures to extend support for its saffron farmers, according to Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad Hossein Shirzad said.

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According To Iran News, Iran has adopted special measures to continue support for its saffron farmers, Iranian Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad Hossein Shirzad said.

Shirzad, who is also chairman of the Board of the Central Organization for Rural Cooperatives of Iran (CORC), said from the start of saffron harvesting in the current cropping year (started on mid-October), the CORC has succeeded to purchase 39 tones saffron and paid farmers about IR.12 billion.

“In a bit to implement the agricultural ministry’s policy on supporting saffron farmers and the enhancement of sustainable production as well as export revenue, the CORC has been purchasing saffron with the supporting prices set by the ministry,” he added.

With a target-oriented approach to attain maximum efficiency and minimum intervention, the CORC issued technical and practical guidelines for saffron purchasing procedures.

The guidelines have been announced to the South and Razavi Khorasan where are the main hubs of saffron cultivation in Iran. In each province, a working group is formed to monitor implementing the guidelines regarding market regulating of crops including saffron.

Headed by the Chief of provincial agro-organization and other stakeholders, these working groups have developed regional saffron purchasing center.

“The CORC has also determined 18 reference laboratories for quality control and physicochemical analysis of saffron. Based on the results of these analyses, saffron is categorized to All Red, Negin, Pushal and Bunch. Each category is transacted with a distinctive price,” Shirzad noted.

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“Neighboring countries are not our main customers except the UAE, which is our main importer and re-exports Iranian saffron,” he said.

“Main importers of Iranian saffron are UAE, China, Spain, Italy and France,” he said, “We have exports also to China via Hong Kong since Chinese have ratified high tariffs on Iran’s saffron.”

“UAE re-export Iran’s saffron to India and China but smugglers buy the product in Iranian city of Mashhad and smuggle it to Afghanistan then export it to India under Afghan brands because Indian tariffs on Iranian products are higher than those on Afghan ones,” he added.

On July 21, Gholamreza Miri, deputy head of the national council of saffron told Mehr news agency that during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2019), exports of saffron witnessed a drop of 15 percent.

As he added, saffron prices also decreased by 10 percent to 15 percent in the said time.

“Saffron exports in the said period stood at 47 tons, while the figure was 55 tons in the same time in the year before,” Miri said.

Lamenting that saffron is smuggled out of the country, the official put the saffron prices between 75 million rials (about $650) to 115 million rilas (about $1,000) in domestic market.

Explaining the reason for saffron prices drop, Miri said that “the product is not exported, domestic production has reduced and the farmers and those who had stocked the saffron are injecting it to the market.”

In late January, Miri told Mehr news that there was a 15 percent increase in saffron production in the previous Iranian year, adding the prices had been stabilized in the market due to the balance between supply and demand.

Iran is the world’s biggest producer of saffron and accounts for more than 90 percent of global production. The country produces an average of 370 tons of saffron on over 108,000 hectares of land annually.

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Hamed Soltaninejad stated that IME, aimed at hedging the price of saffron, and, consequently, creating the possibility of long-term planning and management of supply and demand for farmers and activists in this field, as well as the development of derivatives as one of the main pillars of the development of the Iran capital market, launched Saffron futures for the first time in Iran at the beginning of the year, being welcomed highly, IME’s International Affairs and Public Relations Department reported on Tuesday.

According to Soltaninejad, since the launch of these contracts, more than 11 million futures contracts have been traded on Iran Mercantile Exchange.

IME’s managing director further said that the introduction of new financial instruments would reduce transaction costs, increase transparency and elevate the level of transactions, adding, “the launch of saffron futures contracts in this year led to the development of traditional market structures to modern structures and the development of domestic markets for saffron. Therefore, due to the widespread appreciation of the market participants for saffron futures and certificates of deposits, saffron options contracts will be launched by the end of this year.

Soltaninejad expressed the advantages of using this financial instrument, saying that the options contracts would allow farmers to secure sales at certain prices. In addition, due to the low transaction costs and price transparency on the Iran Mercantile Exchange, the entry of farmers into this market will lead to the elimination of intermediaries and the price management for saffron.

Managing director of IME added: “The establishment and further development of commodity-based derivatives will ensure the farmers’ confidence in future prices and decision on the cultivating and selling in the future.”
MA/MA

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Shahrokh Shajari put the weight of exported saffron during the mentioned time span at 170 tons with a 36-percent rise from that of the same period of time in the past year, ILNA reported on Saturday.

Iran’s exports of saffron increased about 55 percent in the past Iranian calendar year compared to its preceding year, breaking the record of exports in the past ten years.

According to Kaveh Zargaran, the chairman of the Agricultural Committee at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), some 236 tons of saffron worth over $326 million were exported to the destination markets in the mentioned period.

UAE, Hong Kong, Spain, Afghanistan and China were the top importers of Iranian saffron while the top three namely UAE, Hong Kong and Spain accounted for over 77 percent of the total exports, Zargaran said.

Also, as announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, the saffron output in the country will reach 400 tons by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2019).

The annual saffron production stood at 326 tons during the previous year.

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 Iran’s exports of saffron have registered a 46 percent increase in the first eight months of the current Iranian year (Mar. 21 – Nov. 21) as compared to the same period last year, according to deputy head of the National Saffron Council.

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