Q1-3 Exports From Bushehr at $4.3b

According to Ahmad Rajaei, a local official, petrochemical was the main product exported from Bushehr with 15.15 million tons worth $4.04 billion and industrial, mining and agricultural products worth $161 million were exported during the nine-month period. 

“Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, in the port city of Assaluyeh, accounted for the lion’s share of exports from Bushehr. It was followed by Bushehr Port, Bandar Kangan and Bandar Dayyer. Major export products were butane and propane, methanol, polyethylene, urea, styrene, gas condensates and cement,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

China with $2.92 billion, the UAE with $493 million and Turkey with $173 million, as well as Singapore, Qatar, India, Afghanistan and Brazil were top export destinations during the nine-month period. 

A total of 195,000 tons of province’s exports from Bandar Dayyer, mostly agricultural products, worth $56 million were shipped to Qatar, i.e., 6% more than the corresponding period of last year in terms of volume. 

Noting that nine-month exports from Bushehr’s customs were down 1% in terms of weight over last year’s similar period, the official said, “Bushehr is facing the challenges of infrastructure when it comes to exports; the completion of Shiraz-Bushehr Highway and construction of railroad and creation of sea routes between Bushehr and Qatar would have a significant impact on the improvement of export from the province.”

Rajaei noted that other serious challenges in the way of exports are shortage of refrigerated containers and high costs of transportation, as well as restrictions placed by trade partners following the outbreak of coronavirus.

He added that a total of 7.32 million tons of non-oil goods worth $1.89 billion were exported from the province in the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Sept. 22-Dec. 20, 2020).

The dredging of inner and outer channels of the southern port of Bushehr completed recently. 

The 1.9 trillion-rial ($7.5 million) project, which deepens the channels to 10.8 meters, will allow for 30,000-ton deadweight ships to call at the terminal. 

“About 5.75 million cubic meters of sediments and debris have been dredged from the channels over 20 months. Before the completion of this project, Bushehr Port could only accommodate ships with a cargo capacity of 15,000 tons,” Mohammad Rastad, the head of Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, said recently.

Bushehr is one of the important ports of Persian Gulf, which has an international airport and highways linking the city to Ahvaz to the northwest and Shiraz to the northeast. A secondary coastal road links Bushehr to Bandar Abbas to the southeast.