Investigating and Determining the Export Pattern of Iranian Dates by Separated Types of the Product

The date is one of the most important export products in the Iranian agricultural sector. The significant share of dates in Iranian non-oil exports indicates the importance of the production and export of this product over the other agricultural products. Using numerical taxonomy approach, the present study aimed at investigating and determining the export pattern of Iranian dates based on market continuity indices, standard market continuity, average of price of date (US$), average import share of target country, coefficient of price fluctuation of date (US$), and coefficient of imported share of the target country fluctuation. The stugy results from prioritization of date exports to target countries indicated that the best export markets of Iranian Zahedi dates were Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, the best export markets of Iranian Stameran dates were Australia, UAE, Canada, UK and Poland, the best export markets of Iranian Mazafati dates were India, UAE, Turkey, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, the best export markets of Iranian Kabkab dates were Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, UAE and Iraq and the best export markets of Iranian Shahani dates were UAE and India. Considering the results of prioritization of the target countries in different tariff codes, it is recommended to take advantage of the preferential and bilateral agreements in the marketing of dates in the countries prioritized in each tariff code (presented in the results) so that the required conditions for export pattern change and access to the suggested pattern are provided.