Iran No Longer Importing Indian Tea And Basmati

Nagpur: Since last week, Iran has ceased signing new contracts for the import of tea and basmati rice from India. While there has been no clarification from Iranian buyers as to why this sudden halt has occurred, India exporters believe it is largely due to shops, hotels, and markets in the West Asian country remaining closed due to strong anti-hijab movements across the country. According to one source, Iranian importers may be delaying purchases while New Delhi and Tehran work out a rupee trade settlement agreement.

According to exporters, the development will have an impact on these commodities’ exports, particularly tea, because Iran imports approximately 30-35 million kg of orthodox tea and approximately 1.5 million kg of basmati rice from India each year. “While tea exports to Iran had previously slowed, buyers from there stopped registering new contracts as of last week,” Anish Bhansali, managing partner of Bhansali & Company, a leading tea exporter to Iran, said. “There is no explanation for why this happened so suddenly.” “We asked the Iranian buyers,” he said, “but they don’t have a clear answer.” “We have informed the tea board and are awaiting clarification.”

Basmati exporters face the same issue, though the impact will be less severe because basmati exports have increased due to high demand and rising commodity prices globally since the Russia-Ukraine war.