Iran increases purchases of barley and corn

According to USDA data, in the 2025/26 season, Iran will maintain the production of feed crops (barley and corn) at last year’s level – 3 million tons of barley (-0.1 million tons compared to 2024/25), 1.4 million tons of corn (unchanged), but their total consumption will increase by 0.3 million tons, to 15.3 million tons. In this regard, there is an increase in crop imports.

In particular, Russia, which is one of the key suppliers in this direction, shipped about 0.6 million tons of barley to Iran in July-August 2025 (0.2 million tons a year earlier) and 0.5 million tons of corn (0.4 million tons).

Kazakhstan, which is also among the top suppliers, exported 38 thousand tons of barley against 5 thousand tons a year earlier (corn was not exported during the period under review). At the same time, a week earlier, market participants noted a shortage of boats in Astrakhan due to congestion in Iranian ports. At the same time, the most noticeable changes in Iranian purchases should occur in the wheat sector – the USDA in 2025/26 predicts a decrease in the harvest compared to last season to 13.5 million tons (-2.5 million tons) and an increase in imports to 3 million tons (+2.1 million tons). In addition, the head of the National Syndicate of Wheat Farmers of Iran previously reported that in the current season until March 2026, the country could import about 4.5 million tons of the crop. However, at the moment, there is no increase in wheat shipments to the country.

Tags: Iran, corn, barley