Iran Buys 104,000 Tonnes of Green Tea Leaf, Pays 78% of Growers' Dues
Iran's Tea Organization has purchased more than 104,000 tonnes of green tea leaf this season and produced 23,400 tonnes of dried tea, with output running about 19 percent above the same period last year. Of the 3,750 billion tomans owed for the leaf, 2,925 billion tomans, or 78 percent, has been paid to growers. Processing factories have settled about 90 percent of their share against roughly 40 percent from the state.
Iran has purchased more than 104,000 tonnes of green tea leaf so far in the current season and converted it into about 23,400 tonnes of dried tea, Habib Jahansaz, head of the country's Tea Organization, said in an interview with the Tasnim news agency carried by eghtesadjournal.com. About 78 percent of the money owed to growers for that leaf has been paid.
Procurement volumes and processing yield
The leaf bought to date is valued at roughly 3,750 billion tomans, Jahansaz said. Turning 104,000 tonnes of fresh leaf into 23,400 tonnes of made tea implies a conversion ratio of about 4.4 kilograms of green leaf per kilogram of dried product, and an average procurement value of some 36 million tomans per tonne of leaf delivered. The figures cover deliveries up to the date of the interview and do not include the autumn flush, which is still ahead. eghtesadjournal.com published the report under a headline referring to Gilan, the northern Caspian province at the centre of Iranian tea growing.
- Green leaf purchased: more than 104,000 tonnes
- Dried tea produced: about 23,400 tonnes
- Value of leaf purchased: about 3,750 billion tomans
- Paid to growers: about 2,925 billion tomans, or 78 percent
- Production change year on year: up about 19 percent
Payments split between the state and the factories
Settlement with growers is financed from two pools: a state contribution and the processing factories' own share. Factories have so far paid about 90 percent of their portion, while the government has covered roughly 40 percent, according to Jahansaz. Against the headline value of 3,750 billion tomans, about 2,925 billion tomans has reached growers, leaving some 825 billion tomans outstanding.
A further allocation of about 340 billion tomans has been released by the Treasury and placed with the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Jahansaz said. Once the money is transferred to the Tea Organization's account, payments to growers will be pursued in the coming days. He said the disbursement would lift the government's share of settlements significantly and push total payments above the current level, with clearing to continue through subsequent flushes.
Output up 19 percent on better rainfall
Production is running about 19 percent above the same period of last year and conditions have been favourable so far, Jahansaz said. He tied the improvement to precipitation, noting that rainfall matters a great deal for tea gardens and other crops and that this year's pattern has helped the condition of the plantations. Conditions for the autumn flush are better than a year ago, he added, and if the trend holds, part of the existing shortfall could be made up and autumn output strengthened. He also cautioned that open-field agriculture is permanently exposed to environmental factors, with rainfall, light and temperature feeding directly into yields and leaving farmers carrying the risk.
What the figures do and do not show
The Tea Organization did not publish a breakdown by grade, factory or district, nor a full-season procurement target, so the 104,000 tonnes cannot be measured against a stated annual plan. The 19 percent gain is calculated against the same period last year, not against a multi-year average. The payment ratios refer to the value of leaf delivered so far; the remaining 22 percent depends on the pace of Treasury transfers rather than on anything happening in the gardens.
