Financial Tribune- More than 58.2 tons of saffron worth $78.58 million were exported to 50 countries during the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 21-July 22), registering a 25.3% and 22.9% growth in weight and value respectively compared with the corresponding period of last year.

Spain, Australia, South Africa, Germany, the UAE, Italy, Bahrain, the UK, the US, Belgium, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey, the Czech Republic, South Korea and China were among the main export destinations of Iranian saffron over the period. Iran is the world�s biggest saffron producer and accounts for more than 90% of the global production, ISNA reported.

Close to 95% of Iranian saffron are grown in the two provinces of South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi in northeastern Iran. �More than 172 tons of saffron worth $246.7 million were exported to 47 countries in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20,� Gholamreza Miri, chairman of Iran�s National Saffron Center, said. The figure showed a 32.3% rise in weight compared to the preceding year.