Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.1
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran imports 85 percent of its needed tea annually.
Mohammad Vali Roozbahan, head of Iran 's Tea Organization, said that some $500 million of tea is imported annually to the country, Fars news agency reported September 1.
Some 71,000 metric tons of tea leaves have been harvested in the current Iranian fiscal year (started on March 21), showing 15 percent rise year on year, he added.
Based on official statistics, Iran accounts for some four percent of the world's total tea consumption. Around 32,000 hectares area of land is under cultivation of tea in the country.
Iran is the second biggest market for Sri Lanka 's tea exports that grabs 14 percent of the total tea exports from this island nation. Iran buys the highest amount of teas from Colombo comprising 48 percent of its market share of the total 80,000 metric tons tea imports to Iran.
