Iran bans exports of dates, apples and oranges for 2 months

According to EastFruit trade sources, due to skyrocketing prices of basic foodstuffs in the country, which causes mass discontent of the population ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Iranian government has decided to impose a complete ban on exports of apple, orange and dates for two months. Some sources point to February 24, 2025 as the date of the ban, but according to our sources, shipments were still possible until yesterday. It is likely that they will be stopped today, due to the beginning of Ramadan.

Since Iran is one of the world leaders in apple exports by volume, exporting up to 1 million tons of these fruits in some seasons, such a decision will have a strong impact on the world apple market. It should be reminded that only Italy, China and Poland have comparable volumes of apple exports with Iran. At the same time, Iranian apple has key positions in one of the main import markets of apple in the world – the Indian market. Also, Iran has a great influence on the formation of prices for apple in the lower price segment in such important for exporters from Ukraine, Moldova and Poland countries as UAE, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Accordingly, lower supply of apples from Iran will support already high prices for apples in the Middle East, South-East Asia and Central Asia. This, in turn, may support apple prices in Europe and Turkey. This trend will not bypass the Ukrainian market, where record high prices may grow even more significantly in March-June.

EastFruit analysts note that such decision of Iranian authorities is populist and will only aggravate economic problems of the country. Official inflation in Iran in January 2025 was estimated at 31.8% in annualized terms, but economists say that the real inflation is at least one and a half to two times higher.

The local currency also – the Iranian rial – has long been the subject of many jokes. As of February 2025, the rial’s exchange rate has reached about IRR 930,000-950,000 to one U.S. dollar on the unofficial black market, a 14% drop in one month! This is in stark contrast to the official exchange rate, which is fixed at IRR 42,000 per dollar for imports of essential goods. A ban on exports, on the other hand, would mean another drop in foreign exchange earnings and exacerbate both exchange rate and inflation problems.

Tags: Iran, export, apples, restrictions, oranges, dates