Goods Transit Through Iran Grows 10% in Four Months
EghtesadOnline: Close to 3.37 million tons of oil and non-oil products were transited through Iran’s 32 land and sea border terminals in the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22) to register a 10% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
According to Director General of the Roads Ministry-affiliated Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization’s Transit and International Transportation Bureau Reza Nafisi, oil products accounted for more than 1.29 million tons of the total volume and non-oil products for the remaining 2.07 million tons.
The main transited non-oil products were auto spare parts, agricultural products and foodstuff, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
Around 998,000 tons of commodities were transited from Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the southern Hormozgan Province, accounting for around 30% of all transited goods. The port was the most active point of entry among all Iranian border terminals during the period, according to Financial Tribune.
Located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, Shahid Rajaee Port is Iran’s biggest container port at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee Port, which also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
With 18 gantry cranes and 40 berths, Shahid Rajaee is the most advanced container port of Iran.
The significance of this port lies in its large capacity, including its location in the Persian Gulf, container terminal, fuel bunkering, access to 24 kilometers of railroads and round-the-clock truck transportation.
Following Shahid Rajaee Port, the border terminals of Parviz Khan in Kermanshah, Bashmaq in Kurdestan and Bazargan in West Azarbaijan were other major entry points that accounted for 24%, 10% and 9% of the volume of transits conducted over the period respectively.
The lion’s share of the transited goods through Iran headed from Iraq to the UAE.
Parviz Khan-Imam Khomeini Port, Shahid Rajaee Port-Doqaroun Border Terminal in Khorasan Razavi Province and Bashmaq border crossing-Imam Khomeini Port were the main routes used by transit trucks during the four-month period.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration clarified last week that the recent ban imposed by the government on a list of commodities has nothing to do with their transit through the country, noting that transit of these goods can continue as before.
The government of Iran banned the import of 1,339 commodities categorized as “non-essential goods with domestic counterparts” as of June 20.
The announcement was misinterpreted when it spread beyond borders and international shipping lines and transportation companies ordered their offices and representatives to abstain from accepting freight loaded with such commodities to be transported through Iran based on the misconception that the entry of these goods were banned into the country.
The move to ban imports is mainly aimed at economizing on foreign currency.