Iran Eyes More Exports to Brazil to Balance Bilateral Trade

Iran’s agriculture minister says the country is seeking to expand its exports to Brazil to balance its trade with the South American country. Gholamreza Nouri said on Monday that Iran has a major trade deficit with Brazil which it seeks to narrow with an increase in the exports of agrifood.

Nouri said that he had met with his Brazilian counterpart in Brasilia, where he attended a ministerial meeting of the BRICS bloc of developing economies last week, adding that the Brazilian side had agreed to remove hurdles to Iran’s exports of crops like pomegranate, apple, kiwi, and products like dried fruits and caviar.

He said Iran and Brazil will soon start discussing new protocols for increased exports of agrifood from Iran.

The minister said that Iran is also planning to reduce its own imports of meat from Brazil in the coming years and instead focus on the re-export of the Brazilian halal meat supplies to third countries.

Iranian government data show that annual trade between the country and Brazil is worth around US$8 billion. Iran imports billions of dollars worth of animal feed and other agricultural products from Brazil, while its exports to Brazil mostly cover urea shipments that amount to less than US$2 billion per year.

The two countries have set a target to increase their bilateral trade to US$10 billion. However, Iran has set its own targets to raise exports to Brazil as the country sent a trade attaché to the country last year, a first such move targeting the South American region, while two Iranian banks are also seeking to set up offices in Brazil to help boost exports.

Ahmad Naderi, an Iranian member of parliament who accompanied Nouri in his trip to Brazil last week, said on Monday that Iran is also planning to ramp up its urea exports to Brazil to respond to the rising demand for fertilizers in the country. - Press TV