Khorasan Saffron Bazaar in Iran is resting records a quiet period in the regional saffron trade, when exporters were watching European demand, local price stability and shipments from Mashhad.

Saffron threads being inspected at a modern Khorasan market desk
Saffron threads being inspected at a modern Khorasan market desk.

This is an archive of the market report published on this site in April 2021. Its prices and shipment figures belong to the period described in that report; they are not current quotations or trading advice.

Why the Khorasan saffron market was described as resting

Gholamreza Miri, identified in the original report as head of the provincial saffron exporters’ union, linked the calm market to the closure of European markets for the holidays. He expected significant orders might arrive after those holidays and said such demand could improve the market.

His use of “improve” was important. Miri was not calling for a simple price increase. He argued that sharp rises were not generally helpful to exports and described improvement as greater stability, with fewer fluctuations. In his view, an exporter could plan orders and commitments more reliably when the saffron price was not moving unpredictably.

Price stability, rather than a price surge

The report said the Iran saffron market was relatively stable at the time and that prices had not increased. That calm explains the headline: the Khorasan saffron bazaar was “resting,” not closed or inactive. Buyers and sellers were waiting for clearer demand while the quoted market held within a narrow range.

This distinction also preserves the point Miri made about exports. A higher nominal price was not automatically presented as good news. The issue was whether businesses could work with a predictable market and price products for overseas customers without sudden changes disrupting their plans.

The non-oil export argument

Miri placed the saffron market in the wider context of Iran’s non-oil exports. Following the economic shocks referenced in the report, he said infrastructure and investment should strengthen exports outside the oil sector and reduce dependence on oil revenue. He proposed reserving oil income for construction and infrastructure work.

That statement was a policy view attributed to Miri, not a measured result. The article did not provide figures for infrastructure investment or demonstrate that the proposed allocation had taken place.

Export figures quoted for Mashhad

The article reported a 30% increase in provincial saffron exports during the first nine months of the reporting year. Miri then gave two monthly comparisons for shipments from Mashhad:

  • December: 18 tonnes and 951 kilograms, compared with 17 tonnes and 984 kilograms in December of the previous year.
  • November: 15 tonnes and 338 kilograms, compared with 10 tonnes and 798 kilograms in the corresponding month of the previous year.

These are the quantities stated in the original report. Because its wording did not identify the underlying customs dataset or the exact calendar year for each comparison, they should be read as historical figures within that report rather than as a current export series.

The historical saffron prices in the report

Miri also supplied a price snapshot in tomans per kilogram. The translated text listed the following amounts:

  • One general saffron quotation at 4 million and 50 thousand tomans per kilogram.
  • Straw saffron between 4 million and 450 thousand and 4 million and 700 thousand tomans per kilogram.
  • Sargol saffron between 4 million and 700 thousand and 4 million and 750 thousand tomans per kilogram.
  • Negin saffron between 5 million and 100 thousand and 5 million and 300 thousand tomans per kilogram.

The report did not define the first quotation’s grade, so this article does not assign one. It also does not convert these historical figures into another currency: doing so without the date and exchange-rate basis would create a misleading comparison.

How to read this market record today

The useful part of this report is the relationship it documented between seasonal overseas demand, market stability and an exporter’s ability to plan. It also preserved the shipment quantities and grade-specific price ranges that Miri cited at the time.

For a current buying or selling decision, however, none of those numbers should be treated as today’s Khorasan market price. Saffron values vary by grade, quality, lot, currency conditions and transaction date. The figures above remain here as a dated record of what the original Iran saffron market report said.