Sanctions limit options for Iranian pineapple imports

Unlike the turbulence witnessed in Iran’s banana import market, pineapples have been consistently supplied to Iran for the most part by the Philippines for the past decade, with volumes growing by almost sixfold in this time, according to Alireza Emami, CEO of Iranian trader Zarrin Group. “Based on the latest data, the Philippines stands as the largest producer of pineapples, growing around 2.7m tonnes, closely followed by Costa Rica with over 2.6m tonnes per year,” said Emami. “The best quality pineapples are cultivated in Costa Rica, but unfortunately Iran is yet to receive any volumes.” Due to direct, almost biweekly chartered vessels from the Philippines to Iran, Filipino pineapples have been able to maintain their top ranking on the Iranian market. “Other suppliers like Thailand and Malaysia have exported minor volumes to Iran, but discontinued in 2019 when shipping lines halted their services to Iran,” explained Emami. For a time, he said, Ecuador developed a share of the ...