Iran's Export Competitiveness in the Supply Chain of Tomato Paste in the Target Markets

Agricultural and food industry exports are one of the strategies for export development and sustainable economic growth in developing countries. Since Iran has been among the top ten countries in the export of tomatoes and tomato paste in recent years, the purpose of this article was to compare the global market structure of these two products as two links in the tomato supply chain and calculate the revealed comparative advantage of their exports in the world and the target countries. According to the results, the global market structure of both products in the period 2010-2018, despite the high share of the top four market powers, has been an open oligopoly for most of the years, which indicates a small share of the most competitors and high competition between them. However, due to the large share and stability of market leadership, it is unlikely that small countries will be able to capture the share of large countries. Therefore, it is suggested that Iran, with an average share of 1.61 percent in the tomato market and 5.30 percent in the paste market, prioritize a number of markets in which it has more competitiveness for market penetration, market development, and branding. On average, exports of tomatoes and tomato paste to Turkmenistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan have had the greatest comparative advantage for Iran. It is proposed to prioritize competition, market development, and branding in a number of markets in which it has competitiveness and stability based on the revealed comparative advantage index, including Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning that due to the higher comparative advantage of tomato paste compared to tomato, its higher added value, more branding, and storage and transportation capabilities, it is recommended, with the development of investment in food processing industries and the completion of supply chain and marketing. Development of the export market of tomato paste should be a priority of the country.