Iran opening large dairy plant to meet rising demand for butter, milk fats

A large Iranian dairy factory is to open in a location to the west of the capital Tehran as authorities seek a full halt to massive imports of butter which costs tens of millions of dollar each year.

Touring the site of the factory on Saturday, Iran’s minister of industries Reza Rahmani described the dairy plant as “a mega project” which will make Iran self-sufficient in production of butter and other milk fats.

Iran imports more than 50,000 tons of butter each year to cover over 90 percent of its domestic demand. The dairy product is a staple of the Iranian breakfast and customs data from the previous calendar year shows that more than $100 million had been spent on butter imports until March.

Rahmani said more than 5,000 people will work in the new factory, located in Shahriar, a district near Tehran rich in livestock farming, adding that another 50,000 jobs will be created in the wider supply and distribution chain.

He said the government will back development plans in the privately-owned factory as it could enable Iran to start exports of various dairy products.

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A first phase of the new dairy plant will be opened “soon”, according to a report by the IRIB News, which also said that the factory will be built on a area of 17 hectares and its three phases will cost more than half a billion dollar.

It added that some 1.3 million liters of milk will be processed in the facility each day, most of it supplied by livestock units in Shahriar and those in cities and counties to the north of Iran.

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