Increase in rice being imported to Iran

Iranians are eating around 2.8 million tons of rice per year Iran imported 897,000 tons of rice, valued at $884 million during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year, local customs officials have confirmed. In comparison to the same period of last year, the figures showed an 18.8 percent increase in terms of value and 3.3 percent rise in terms of volume. India, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan were the main three exporters of rice to Iran, with China, Austria, Thailand, Turkey, Singapore, Oman and Russia also on the list.
Annual rice consumption in Iran stands at around 2.8 million tons, Mehdi Kabuli, an official from Agricultural Jihad Ministry said.
The Islamic republic plans to increase the yield of rice to keep its import at less than 500,000 tons, Kabuli was quoted as saying.
The official report has also revealed that Iran exported 44,682 cars, valued at $257 million during the same nine month period. Iraq was the major importer of Iranian cars, accounting for 98 percent of total imports, said the report, adding that a small numbers of cars were also exported to Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Iranian calendar year began on March 20, 2012.
Source: XINHUA