Saffron prices continue to rise

Saffron prices continue to rise was the conclusion of a market report published in 2015, when Negin saffron was said to have moved above seven million tomans per kilogram. That is a historical price, not today’s quotation and not a forecast for 2026. The report is still useful because it shows how quickly a saffron price can become misleading when the date, currency, grade and point of sale are left out.

Gholamreza Miri, identified in the report as vice chairman of Iran’s National Saffron Council, described the rise as unusual rather than healthy. He connected it with restricted supply around Ramadan, speculative buying and money moving from other asset markets into saffron. He also warned that a sudden domestic increase could unsettle export relationships. Those were his market views at the time; they are not proof of a single cause.

What the 2015 price report recorded

The old English version converted the currency incorrectly. The figures were in Iranian tomans, not US dollars. It reported these wholesale price bands per kilogram:

• Dasteh saffron: 5.30 to 5.35 million tomans;
• Pushal saffron: 6.40 to 6.70 million tomans;
• Sargol saffron: 6.60 to 6.75 million tomans;
• Negin saffron: 6.80 to 7.00 million tomans, with some Negin lots said to have passed seven million.

These numbers should not be converted with a current exchange rate and presented as a current dollar price. They belong to a particular Iranian market, currency environment and reporting date. Inflation, exchange-rate changes, changing grade definitions and the difference between a bulk lot and a retail package make a direct comparison unreliable.

The categories also describe different commercial cuts of the same spice, not four botanical varieties. Dasteh retains the red stigma and more of the yellow style in a tied bundle. Pushal keeps some style attached, Sargol consists mainly of separated red stigma, and Negin is selected for long, clean red threads. Our guide to saffron types and their quality explains what those names can and cannot tell a buyer.

Why “the price of saffron” is not one number

A price only becomes comparable after the lot and transaction are defined. A grower’s farm-gate sale, a processor’s wholesale offer and the shelf price of a small consumer pack are different markets. Packaging, testing, cleaning, finance, freight, tax, retailer margin and rejected material may all sit between them.

Grade names are not enough on their own. Two lots sold as Negin can differ in moisture, broken-thread content, floral waste, colour strength, aroma, age and storage history. The current ISO 3632-1:2025 specification applies to dried saffron in filament, cut-filament and powder forms and includes storage and transport recommendations. Its companion test-method standard gives laboratories a common way to assess dried saffron. Neither standard publishes a market price.

For a useful comparison, record the transaction date, currency, unit, commercial cut, test result or agreed specification, net saleable weight, pack size, transaction level and delivery terms. Without those details, a headline can make two unlike offers appear to describe the same product.

What Miri thought was driving the rise

Miri said prices had steadied for only about a week near Ramadan before rising again. The report suggested that supplies reaching the market had fallen during the holiday period. It then anticipated that more farmers would return to local markets after Ramadan, increasing available supply and perhaps easing prices.

That was a forecast, not a recorded outcome. Harvest timing, inventories and sellers’ willingness to release stock can affect short-term availability, but a religious-calendar explanation does not establish the longer trend. The next crop, export orders, exchange rates, quality of stored material and buyers’ confidence can all pull in different directions.

Miri also argued that capital leaving housing and gold-coin markets had moved into saffron. The article does not provide transaction data that would isolate that effect. It is best retained as the contemporary explanation of an industry representative, not rewritten as an economic finding.

This is why the site’s separate explanation of why saffron has no single fixed price is more useful for a present-day purchase. A dated quotation describes one trade; it does not establish the value of every later lot.

Competition claims need a date and a source

The 2015 report named Afghanistan, Greece and Spain as competitors in international saffron markets. Miri said movements of Iranian planting corms had helped create competitive production abroad. He also referred to US financial support for an Afghan saffron market of 40 tonnes and to Chinese research aimed at increasing yields on Afghan land.

Those statements are preserved because they were part of the original interview, but this article has not found primary programme documents that verify the 40-tonne wording or the alleged Chinese project. They should not be repeated as current government policy. Nor does the movement of planting material, by itself, prove the origin of every later field or export.

Other countries can expand acreage and improve agronomy, yet output and export competitiveness still depend on climate, field age, labour, quality control, compliance, logistics and market access. A planted hectare is not automatically a kilogram target, and a production target is not a completed sale.

What the UAE and Spain figures do—and do not—show

The article reported that the United Arab Emirates accounted for 70 tonnes worth US$105 million, described as 46.5% of the Iranian market in the period covered. Spain was placed second at 38 tonnes and 22.1%. Miri said some material reaching Spain was processed, packed and then sold onward in Europe. He also described Dubai trade as difficult and said Iranian traders with warehouse capacity there were better placed to manage it.

The date and dataset behind those shares were not supplied in the English article, so they remain historical attributed figures rather than independently verified current totals. A destination country is not necessarily the final country of consumption. It may be a trading, storage, packing or re-export hub.

The United Nations Statistics Division explains that merchandise trade data are reported by commodity and trading partner, while its methodology distinguishes origin, consignment, last known destination and re-exports. That distinction matters here. Export value to the UAE or Spain shows a recorded partner flow; on its own, it does not prove where consumers opened the package or whose origin appeared on every later label.

The claim that Iranian saffron was reprocessed abroad and sold under another country’s name therefore needs care. Repacking or re-exporting a product is not evidence that every operator concealed origin. A provenance claim should be checked against the lot’s records, label and applicable origin rules rather than inferred from the partner country.

The pistachio comparison was a warning, not evidence

Miri compared saffron with Iran’s experience in the pistachio trade. He referred to California production and alleged that dumping had affected the market, then warned that saffron could face a similar loss of position if domestic prices were not controlled.

The comparison conveys his concern about competitiveness, but it does not establish dumping. That term has a specific trade-law meaning and requires evidence about export prices, normal value and injury. The old article supplies none of that analysis. It is more accurate to read the passage as an analogy about losing market share when buyers see unstable prices.

Would stockpiling stabilise the market?

The report presented storage as a market-regulation tool. Miri proposed that government purchase saffron when supply was heavy and release it when necessary. He said industry organisations could not finance purchases at that scale and suggested that banks might take the lead.

That was a policy proposal. It should not be presented as a guaranteed solution. A reserve can smooth some temporary supply pressure, but it also introduces financing costs, quality deterioration risk, release-timing decisions and the possibility that an intervention changes sellers’ behaviour. The report does not show that the proposal was adopted or measure its results.

Storage is not neutral for the product, either. Saffron must be protected from moisture, light, heat, odours and contamination. A nominal kilogram held badly may not remain equivalent to a properly stored, tested kilogram when it reaches the market.

How to read a new claim that saffron prices are rising

Start with the date. Then ask what grade, which market and which currency the speaker means. A defensible market note should identify:

• the source and date of the quotation or completed transaction;
• whether the amount is farm-gate, wholesale, export or retail;
• the exact unit, currency and whether tax, freight or packaging is included;
• the commercial cut and the quality evidence used to accept the lot;
• the comparison period and whether the figures are nominal or adjusted;
• whether a destination is a final market or a possible trading hub.

A rising offer is not the same as a completed sale, and one premium lot does not set the market. Published prices can also lag fast-moving local transactions. Buyers should compare like with like; growers should base revenue on the accepted saleable weight and price they can actually obtain.

Reading this historical price rise correctly

Saffron prices continue to rise accurately describes the concern recorded in this 2015 article. The key historical details remain: Negin at roughly 6.8 to 7 million tomans per kilogram, lower bands for Sargol, Pushal and Dasteh, a brief period of stability near Ramadan, concern about competition, and a proposal to regulate supply through purchasing and storage.

What the headline cannot do is quote today’s price or predict tomorrow’s. For that, the lot must be defined, a current transaction must be dated, and quality and trading level must be made visible. Without those checks, an impressive number is only a number.

The price bands, Ramadan timing, housing and coin-market explanation, Afghanistan/US/China/Greece claims, UAE and Spain figures, pistachio analogy and storage proposal are retained as statements from the 2015 report. They are not presented as current prices, verified programme facts, proof of origin relabelling or investment advice. Official ISO and UN sources were reviewed on 29 August 2026.