28% Rise in Shahid Rajaee Port Container Loading

“With a capacity of loading and unloading 6.5 TEUs of containers per year, Shahid Rajaee, located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, is considered Iran’s biggest container port and a major hub in the region,” Alireza Mohammadi Karajiran was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee. 

“During the same period, container unloading [imports] hit 172,182 TEUs, registering no significant change YOY,” he added.

The official noted that container transit through Shahid Rajaee Port during the five months under review stood at 112.827 TEUs, indicating a 100% hike compared with the corresponding period of last year.

“A total of 675 vessels used this southern port, which shows a YOY increase of 3%,” he said.

With 18 gantry cranes and 40 berths, Rajaee is the most advanced container port of Iran.    

Launched in 1985, the port has expanded every year and is connected to 80 ports worldwide.

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.

“Once the port’s development projects are launched, the figure will rise to 8.5 TEUs per annum,” he said.

Hormozgan Ports and Maritime Organization finalized investment contracts with five local and one foreign company on Dec. 24. Agreements, signed in the presence of ex-roads minister, Mohammad Eslami, are worth 250 trillion rials ($925 million), will develop 2,400 hectares of hinterlands newly added to Shahid Rajaee Port and improve southern ports to ports of third generation. 

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development developed a taxonomy that classifies ports into first, second and third generations. First-generation ports only perform traditional port activities; i.e., they are simply interfaces between the land and the sea. Second-generation ports are characterized as support service centers for transport, industry and trade that provide certain value-added cargo services, such as labeling volumes, consolidation, deconsolidation and completion of production processes. Third-generation ports are dynamic links in international trade networks and active agents that design and implement strategies for the complete development of a port’s area of influence.

The agreements include investment by Bama Company in establishing zinc, lead and manganese factories, Entekhab Industrial Group in construction of home appliance plants, Kayhan Port and Maritime Services Company in creating a variety of industries and Nahavand Arman Company’s investment in establishing a refinery. 

A Chinese company will also invest in establishing a container manufacturing plant. 

The Ports and Maritime Organization also finalized a memorandum of understanding with Bank Melli Iran Brokerage Company that will provide financial guarantees for these projects, the ministry’s news portal News.mrud.ir reported.

Eslami said investment projects in Shahid Rjaee Port will create 20,000 jobs and their duration must not exceed three years. 

“Increasing the capacity of Iranian ports to 280 million tons was the main approach pursued by the ministry and PMO over the past 40 years. As per development plans, their capacity must reach 500 million tons in five years,” he concluded.