After China and Turkey, Iran was the third producer of honey in the world in 2022 with an annual production of 111 thousand tons.
In the near future, Iran will supply a large shipment of honey to China, which is the first shipment of its kind for the country’s honey industry.
An official in Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday: According to the contract signed between the two countries last year, more than 2000 tons of honey will be supplied to China.
This figure is almost equivalent to the total annual export of Iranian honey.
Toraj Sarmi said: Honey export to China will be started by MAJ in compliance with health and safety standards by Chinese authorities.
Sarmi said: It is expected that the export of high-quality Iranian honey to China will begin in the near future through the direct export line between Iran and China.
He said: Exporting to China gives Iranian honey producers an opportunity to sell their products in other East Asian markets.
Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Javad Sadatinejad and China’s Customs Chief Yu Jianhua signed an agreement in July last year, according to which it is possible to export citrus fruits and honey from Iran to China.
Officials at the time hoped that the agreements could pave the way for the diversification of Iran’s exports to China away from traditional shipments of petroleum products, petrochemicals and minerals.
According to Iran’s customs statistics, currently, about 15% of Iran’s annual exports to China are agricultural products.
MAJ statistics published in April last year showed that the country has become the third largest producer of honey in the world after China and Turkey with an annual production of 111,000 tons.
Last year, the country had about 11 million bee colonies in nearly 100,000 bee farms, the fifth largest colony in the world.