Iran’s annual tea imports hit record high at $665m: IRICA
Iran’s annual tea imports hit an all-time record in the calendar year to late March, according to figures by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
IRICA figures cited in a Saturday report by IRIB News showed that tea imports to Iran had topped $665 million in the year to March 20, up 45.9% from the previous year. IRICA said Iran had received tea supplies from 10 countries around the world, without naming them.
That comes as the country had signed a $250 million agreement with Sri Lanka in December 2021 to import tea from the Indian Ocean state in return for arrears it was owed for supply of energy products in the previous year. Iran’s tea imports from India also rose last year amid better trade relations between the two countries.
Iran has a tea demand of nearly 100,000 metric tons (mt) per year, of which some 26,000 mt were sourced from domestic farmers last Iranian year, according to IRICA figures. The figures showed that Iran’s domestic tea output reached an all-time high of 36,000 mt in the year to March 20. Tea exports from Iran also reached a record high of 10,000 mt, worth $44.2 million, last Iranian year, up 34.8% in value compared with the year to late March 2022. The Iranian customs office said Iranian-grown tea was supplied to customers in 26 countries around the world in the year to late March 2023.