Iranian raisin and date crop report

According to updated information by a regional representative, the new crop has been damaged in two out of six major raisin producing regions. Goughan Raisins have been affected by frost and hailstorms over the past three months and the crop size of this region has been reviewed by almost 40%. Abhar a region on the other side has faced serious frost damages losing approximately 30% of the total crop.

Other than these two regions in other four major regions the crop size is forecast to be very large. Especially in the regions of Azerbaijan and Malayer (Hamedan) it is expected to reach record breaking volumes. In general total size crop of Iranian Raisins is expected to surpass 150,000 Metric Tons for the crop year of 2012.

So far the weather during summer has been normal with no radical changes and no excessive heat waves have been reported anywhere as yet. The heat waves caused damages in the same period last year.

It is anticipated that the new crop of grapes will be converted to raisins by the
middle of September and the new raisin crop will enter the local market by
the fourth week of September.

Carry forward
The market is almost out of 2011 crop stocks and in nearly all regions there is
nothing much left of the raw material stocks. Before and During the month
of Ramadan the huge demand almost emptied the sultana/raisin market.

Dates
Based on the latest reports received from the date areas in particular the
province of Khuzestan which is known for the world renowned variety of Sayer, have had favourable weather during the winter and summer.

The high humidity required for the dates to get meaty has been in place helping the palms to grow larger fruits compared to last crop year.

Some areas have experienced the fall of the smaller fruits causing the whole crop to be Select Dates for the crop year of 2012. The total crop size may go slightly higher than the previous year, yet due to the higher domestic consumption, the exporting volume may remain at the same level.

Harvesting is anticipated to take place by the first week of September
and the first shipments of the Sayer pitted dates to be started by the
beginning of October.

Business Environment
The business environment in Iran has been under the impact of a series of crises during the past few years. This fact may have caused concerns for Iran's business partners in some cases, conversely due to the special geopolitical condition of Iran, which has access to the open seas as well as several friendly neighbouring countries with strong business ties, the slim chance of limitation or slow-down on the exportation from Iran is rejected.

In Addition the new economic policy of the government based on lowering the value of Iranian Rials close to the real value against US Dollar will result in more competitive exporting price levels for Iranian exporters in the future.