Iranian Saffron Price per Kilo: Historical 5.1–19M Toman Range

Archived Iranian market reports put the saffron price per kilo anywhere from about 5.1 million to 19 million tomans, depending on the date, grade and transaction. One widely quoted snapshot used a 6–12 million toman range. A later flower-market report placed some first-class Negin lots at 17–19 million tomans.

These are historical wholesale figures from reports originally published on this site in 2021 and 2022. They are not current quotations. Currency changes alone make a direct comparison with today’s market misleading, and a consumer pack cannot be priced by simply dividing a bulk kilogram figure.

For a current offer, use a dated quotation that identifies the grade, quantity, packaging, currency and delivery terms. The site’s current saffron price page is the appropriate place to start; the article below explains why the older market moved.

The historical 6–12 million toman price band

Gholamreza Miri, identified in the original report as vice-president of the National Saffron Council, described a market ranging from 6 million to 12 million tomans per kilogram. He broke the range down further:

• straw or Pushal saffron: about 6–7 million tomans per kilogram;
• Sargol: about 7–8 million tomans;
• row-grade Negin: about 8–9 million tomans; and
• Negin: about 10–12 million tomans.

Those labels describe different cuts and presentations, but a name alone does not establish quality. Colour strength, aroma-related compounds, moisture, foreign matter, thread integrity, cleanliness and laboratory results can distinguish two lots sold under the same grade name.

A different report reached 17–19 million tomans

A separate account from the Torbat Heydariyeh flower market recorded another point in the price cycle. A seller quoted Negin at 12.5–13.5 million tomans, Pushal at 8.5 million, Dasteh or bunch saffron at 6.5 million, and first-class Negin at 17–19 million tomans per kilogram.

The source’s machine-translated grade names included “gemstone,” “straw” and “batch.” They have been normalised here only where the surrounding market context makes the intended Iranian grade clear. Its statement about pigment “below 250” is not repeated as an export rule because the direction and test basis are ambiguous. Export suitability should be established through an applicable specification, a representative sample and validated testing, not one corrupted sentence.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s current work with Iran focuses on authenticity, traceability, quality control and consistent post-harvest handling. That is the sound way to support a grade or origin claim. FAO’s 2025 authenticity-testing announcement also notes that routine grading does not capture every subtle quality difference.

Four-month exports fell while cooperative stock overhung the market

In the 6–12 million toman report, Miri cited customs data for 51 tonnes and 96 kilograms of saffron exports over four months, down 10% from the comparable period. He described the market as stagnant and said traders were reluctant to take risk while the Rural Cooperative Organization held roughly 60 tonnes acquired near the end of the previous season.

His forecast was conditional: if that stock did not enter the market abruptly, supply and demand might move towards balance and prices could strengthen. He also said the market could not be predicted confidently before the end of harvest. The report therefore did not promise a price rise.

The 74-ton stock-exchange controversy

A related report recorded a public disagreement over support-purchased saffron. Alireza Ghanizadeh, described as chief executive of the Rural Cooperative Organization, said offering about 74 tonnes through the exchange could double the market price to 16 million tomans per kilogram.

Miri rejected that expectation in a market already affected by recession, weak purchasing power and export disruption. He asked how adding a large volume could double prices while farmers and traders were still holding unsold stock. He said meetings on 17 April and 15 May had discussed finding 138 billion tomans to settle government debts to saffron growers, and argued that farmer payment should not depend on an injurious release of the stock.

Seyyed Ali Hosseini, identified as a National Saffron Council board member, also called the doubling claim unrealistic. He recalled a support-purchase episode about three years earlier in which cooperative saffron bought for 3–4 million tomans was later resold through brokers at roughly four times the price, without that gain reaching the original farmers.

All of these amounts and criticisms are attributed statements in the archived report. They are not audited here as exchange records, and they do not describe the current cooperative inventory or government debt.

A stronger harvest forecast added supply pressure

Another market report recorded Miri’s forecast that favourable weather could lift the Khorasan Razavi saffron harvest by as much as 30%. It also cited first-quarter exports of 35 tonnes worth $50 million, approximately level with the previous year.

At the same time, he said prices had fallen about 10% because supply exceeded demand in domestic and overseas markets. He connected the domestic slowdown to fewer major purchasing occasions, reduced pilgrim traffic, lower purchasing power and buyers’ reluctance to store saffron.

The 30% figure was a pre-harvest forecast, not a final production statistic. Weather can support a crop, but flowering, labour, corm health and field conditions ultimately determine what is harvested.

When exports fell 35.8%

Two near-duplicate source posts preserve another period in the same market story. Miri reported that exports over ten months exceeded 76 tonnes and $160 million, reaching 47 countries, but were 35.8% lower than in the comparable period.

He blamed a combination of world-market recession, sharp domestic price swings and exporters’ inability to honour stable supply commitments. The price range in that report was lower: 5.1–6.7 million tomans per kilogram domestically and roughly $1,500–$2,300 internationally, with some packaged sales near $3,000.

These figures should not be combined into a single average. They refer to a different reporting window and unspecified mixes of grade, packaging and contract terms.

Why finance and warehousing affected export promises

Miri compared Iranian exporters with Spanish businesses that, he said, could sign one-year customer contracts, buy and warehouse Iranian saffron and finance inventory at 1.5%. He contrasted that with Iranian bank facilities at 24%, arguing that high borrowing costs prevented exporters from holding enough stock to quote stable prices.

That comparison was Miri’s explanation, not an independently verified survey of Spanish and Iranian lending. The underlying mechanism is credible: an exporter who promises a fixed price for months needs inventory, financing or another way to manage market risk. Expensive credit makes that promise harder to keep.

His proposed solution was cheaper finance that would let exporters store saffron for contracted customers and reduce opportunistic market disruption. Transparent warehouse records, quality controls and fair access would be essential; cheap credit by itself would not guarantee that growers benefit.

Exchange rates could raise exports without fixing the market

In another interview, Miri said an apparent rise in saffron exports was driven mainly by the exchange rate and included activity by inexperienced traders. A weaker local currency can make exports look more attractive, but it can also change input costs, farmer expectations and the local-currency value of a dollar sale.

He also criticised the cost of returning export currency through the Nima system and said legal exporters could not compete with smuggled saffron offered $100–$150 per kilogram cheaper. The archived article attached a roughly 2-million-toman cost to that currency process and argued that reform could increase formal exports. Those were contemporary claims, not current compliance guidance.

Miri connected the issue to the livelihoods of 157,000 farming families. That count is preserved as his figure from the archived report; it is not presented as a current census.

Smuggling can undercut compliant sellers because it avoids controls and costs, but a lower undocumented price says nothing reliable about authenticity, traceability or buyer protection.

Would fixing a price before harvest protect farmers?

The Mashhad Saffron Sellers’ Union proposed setting a final reference price before harvest so growers would have a stable benchmark. The intention was to reduce the uncertainty farmers face when deciding whether to sell immediately or hold their crop.

A reference can improve planning only if its method, grade and enforcement are clear. One fixed number can also become misleading when quality varies or market conditions change. A workable mechanism would need transparent grade definitions, representative cost data, funding and rules for who buys when the open market is below the reference.

The crop calendar concentrates price risk

The Torbat Heydariyeh report said corms were planted from July to September and harvest began in the first half of November. Exact dates vary by locality and weather, but the commercial point is stable: a large share of new saffron reaches the market in a short period.

Growers who need immediate cash may sell into peak supply. Traders with storage and finance can wait. That imbalance explains why warehouse policy, cooperative purchasing, credit and pre-harvest pricing appeared repeatedly in the reports.

How to read any saffron price per kilo

Before comparing two quotations, check:

• the exact date and whether the figure is historical or current;
• tomans, rials, dollars or another currency and the exchange-rate basis;
• grade, test results and whether the sample represents the whole lot;
• bulk or retail quantity and whether packaging is included;
• origin, traceability and authenticity documentation;
• taxes, freight, insurance and delivery terms; and
• whether the number is an asking price, completed sale, support price or forecast.

The archived 5.1–19 million toman figures are valuable because they show how harvest expectations, cooperative stock, export demand, exchange rates and finance pulled the market in different directions. They do not provide today’s saffron price per kilo. Only a current, like-for-like quotation can do that.