TEHRAN, Iran, June 15. Iran's saffron export has declined in the past five months and continues to drop in the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2022), member of National Saffron Council of Iran Gholamreza Miri told Trend.
He pointed out that Iran's saffron export had declined 58 percent in January 2022, and has been unstable since then (33 percent in February, 38 percent in March, 60 percent in April, 19 percent in May).
He went on to say that the increase of additional export fees to 150 million rials (about $3,570) has led to the rise in smuggling.
Smugglers are not obligated to pay these high fees and would sell saffron to the global market 20 percent cheaper than official saffron exporters, he explained.
The basic price of saffron is $1,598 per kilo while Iran's saffron export is sold for between $1,400 to 1,450 per kilo.
Statistics indicate that the smuggling of Iran's saffron has increased from 30 to more than 60 percent. Iran has exported 325 tons of saffron in 2020 which declined to 286 tons in 2021 and is expected to continue to fall in the current Iranian year.
