The Ministry of Agriculture revealed today, Monday, its intention to seek new outlets for exporting Iraqi dates to ensure the preservation of their identity and prices in new countries. This comes in contrast to the situation in the UAE, where they are sold at low prices and then packaged and sold at higher prices as Emirati dates.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad al-Khazaai, stated that the current date market is better than last year in terms of prices and quantities, varying according to the type of dates. He noted that it is still early to talk about date exports as the harvesting season and export operations begin in September.
He explained that Iraq has been exporting dates in recent years, and this year will see the opening of new outlets because we export them as raw materials—just dates without canning or processing—and they are sold at low prices, particularly in UAE markets that can them and process them, then sell them as local dates, not Iraqi, which constitutes a double loss.
Al-Khazaai confirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture has taken measures with various parties and conducted consecutive visits to Morocco, Lebanon, and Turkey to export Iraqi dates directly to them to ensure they are sold at a higher price while retaining their Iraqi identity, according to Al-Sabah newspaper. Iraq produces about 750,000 tons of dates annually, exporting between 150,000 and 400,000 tons of them each year.
