High-Cost wave in the grain and pulses market: With the increase in the price of meat and poultry, the consumption of legumes as one of the alternative proteins has increased, but this product is not far from expensiveness and the price of these products has multiplied in the last two years.

Recent Droughts

One of the reasons for the high price of pulses this year is the recent water shortage and drought in the country, which has had a significant impact on the production and reduction of the quality and quantity of food products, including rice and pulses. Also, production and harvesting costs, labor costs, pesticides, and fertilizers have increased several times compared to the past, which is effective in increasing the cost of items.

The sharp decrease in imports

Since imports are mainly done to meet the country’s needs deficit and create a balance in prices, depending on the amount of domestic production during the last 10 years, the country’s imports have been from 100 to 260 thousand tons per year, which due to recent droughts. It seems that this year we need to supply at least 200,000 tons of various grains and pulses from the place of import.

In the current situation, factors such as the increase in the price of the dollar, sanctions, and the increase in the cost of shipping products into the country, have reduced the import of pulses and raised its price in the domestic market. According to published reports, the import of cereals this year has decreased by 81% compared to the previous year, and this has caused the price of cereals to increase.

Cost increase due to sanctions

Other reasons for the unprecedented rise in grain and pulses prices in recent years include sanctions. Because sanctions have caused traders to go around different routes to import goods, and this has increased the cost of transportation. During these years of sanctions, grain traders have entered the country through three routes. This means that food items have never been imported directly into Iran. For example, pulses are loaded from Europe and imported to Turkey or Dubai. It is loaded again from these two destinations to Iran and reaches merchants. Just a few routes to import pulses have increased the cost and increased the price of pulses.

In general, it can be said that the increase in the price of grains and pulses depends on several different factors; Including

-Drought and reduction of pulses harvest from the country’s farms,

-Decreased imports for reasons such as sanctions

– And also the export of some items such as chickpeas.