New Silo in Chabahar to Boost Grain Storage Capacity

EghtesadOnline: The construction of a 100,000-ton grain silo has begun in Chabahar's Shahid Beheshti Port.

News ID: ۷۵۱۴۵۷

11 November 2020

Built on a 3.5-hectare area, the silo is expected to create about 200 direct jobs, Roads and Urban Development Ministry's news outlet reported.

About $20 million will be injected into the development of the key project.

Increasing Chabahar's grain storage capacity is expected to help the port play a more significant role in transportation of goods to/from Central Asian countries, particularly the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Chabahar, Iran’s sole oceanic port along its southeastern coast, serves as a transit route linking India, Iran and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.

Another silo with a capacity of 100,000 tons will be inaugurated in Semnan Province’s Garmsar County by the end of the current Iranian year on March 20, 2021.

This will be the largest silo in the east of the country, according to the CEO of Government Trading Corporation.

“The Islamic Development Bank and the Iranian government have invested €18.96 million, in addition to 190 billion rials [$700,000] in the project respectively,” Yazdan Seif was also quoted as saying by ILNA.

The official noted that the silo, which has so far made over 90% progress, has been built on a 10-hectare plot and will increase the storage and distribution of this strategic staple food in the country.

A contract was signed in June for the construction of another silo with a capacity of 30,000 tons of grains in the northern Amirabad Port.

According to Director of Amirabad Special Economic Zone Mohammad Ali Saeedi, the contract is in the form of a BOT (build, operation and transfer) deal.

This project is expected to be completed within two years.

“Presently, Amirabad has the capacity to store 235,000 tons of grains. More silos with a collective capacity of 235,000 tons are under construction,” the official was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The new silo will be built on around 7,000 square meters of land and create 12 direct jobs for local people.

Amirabad is the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest in Iran. The 1,000-hectare port has nine berths, which can accommodate Ro-Ro vessels, trains and trucks.

“Iran’s capacity for storage of strategic goods and grains is currently at 21 million tons,” says Qodrat Heydari, an official with the Government Trading Corporation of Iran, a subsidiary of the Agriculture Ministry, IRNA reported.

GTC, affiliated to the ministry, is the official government body in charge of making guaranteed wheat purchases.

“The capacity of government-owned storage units stands at 5.5 million tons with 156 silos, that of mechanized or semi-mechanized storehouses and simple warehouses and private-owned units hovers around 15.5 million tons with 600 silos, mechanized storehouses, cement and metal silos,” Heydari said.

“The government has no concern about food security, particularly regarding wheat. However, we definitely welcome further investment in sectors that need it most.”