Shahid Rajaee Economic Complex Leads Trade, Transit Gateways

EghtesadOnline: Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone, located in the southern Hormozgan Province, accounts for the highest share of all goods exported from and imported to Iran.

News ID: ۷۸۶۹۱۹

01 September 2021

Shahid Rajaee Port handled about 564,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) during the first four months to July 22 to register a year-on-year increase of 16%.

According to Director General of Hormozgan Province's Ports and Maritime Organization Alireza Mohammadi, 550 container ships docked at Iran’s biggest container port during the period, Mehr News Agency reported.

The economic zone, which has a loading/unloading capacity of 100 million tons per year, accounts for over half of Iran's trade and about two-thirds of total freight transit through the country.

The lion’s share of Iran's containers is handled at Shahid Rajaee Complex. With 18 gantry cranes and 40 berths, Rajaee is the most advanced container port of Iran.

Launched in 1985, the port has expanded annually 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.

Export and Import Stats

According to a recent report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, a total of $4.24 billion worth of goods were exported from Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22).

Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in the southern Bushehr Province came next with $2.45 billion worth of exports.

It was followed by Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone, lying in the extreme northwest of the Persian Gulf, with $1.09 billion; Khosravi located on the Iraqi border with $770 million; Bazargan bordering Turkey with $567 million; Shalamcheh bordering Iraq with $443 million; Imam Khomeini Port Petrochemical Special Economic Zone, lying adjacent to Bandar Imam Khomeini Port with $377 million; Parviz Khan and Bashmaq bordering the Iraqi Kurdish Region with $337 and $294 million respectively and Mehran bordering Iraq with $285 million.

A total of $10.85 billion worth of goods were exported from the above-mentioned customs terminals during the period, accounting for 75.64% of Iran’s total export value in the four months.

Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone was also the leading customs terminal in terms of the tonnage of exports as 9.18 million tons of good were exported via this customs during the period under review.

It was followed by Pars Special Economic Energy Zone with 6.38 million tons, Khosravi with 3.76 million tons, Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone with 2.46 million tons, Shalamcheh with 2.44 million tons, Bushehr Special Economic Zone No.1 with 1.74 million tons, Imam Khomeini Port Petrochemical Special Economic Zone with 957,000 tons, Parviz Khan with 828,000 tons and Arvand Free Trade Zone in proximity to Iraq and in the northwest of Persian Gulf with 742,000 tons.

A total of 29.16 million tons of goods were exported via the above-mentioned customs terminals, accounting for 76.08% of Iran’s total export volume during the period.

Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone was also the leading customs terminals in terms of import value. A total of $5.22 billion worth of goods were imported through this terminal during the period.

Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone came next with $2.89 billion.

It was followed by Imam Khomeini International Airport with $2.36 billion, Bazargan with $1.52 billion, Amirabad Special Economic Zone with $307 million, Bushehr Special Economic Zone No.1 with $293 million, Chabahar Free Trade Zone with $191 million, Anzali Free Trade Zone along the Caspian Sea coast with $184 million, Shahid Bahonar in Khuzestan Province with $173 million and Tehran customs with $164 million.

A total of $13.28 billion worth of goods were imported to Iran through these customs, accounting for 91.09% of Iran’s total import value in the period under review.

In terms of imports, however, Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone led other customs offices with 6.423 million tons of imported goods. It was followed by Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone with 2.81 million tons.

Amirabad Special Economic Zone came next with 736,000 tons, Bazargan with 421,000 tons, Chabahar Free Trade Zone with 406,000 tons, Anzali Free Trade Zone with 136,000 tons, Bushehr Special Economic Zone No. 1 with 103,000 tons, Shahid Bahonar with 16,000 tons, Imam Khomeini International Airport with 11,000 tons and Tehran’s Customs Office with 11,000 tons.

In total, 11.07 million tons were imported to Iran through these customs, accounting for 88.53% of Iran’s total import weight during the period.

Transit

In terms of transit, Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone again topped the list.

A total of 3.75 million tons of commodities were transited via Iran during the same four months, showing a 95.56% hike compared with the similar period of last year, according to the deputy head of IRICA’s Statistics and Data Processing Bureau.

“More than 3.44 million tons [92%] of the overall transit were through 10 border crossings, which indicated a 122% upsurge YOY,” Arezou Ghaniyyoun was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

The official said Hormozgan Province’s Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone with 1.19 million tons, Bashmaq with 635,000 tons, Sarakhs bordering Turkmenistan with 555,000 tons, Bazargan with 377,000 tons, Parvizkhan with 242,000 tons, Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province with 135,000 tons, Bileh Savar in Ardabil Province with 130,000 tons, Lotfabad bordering Turkmenistan  with 70,000 tons, Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan Province of Iran on the coast of Persian Gulf with 61,000 tons and Imam Khomeini Port with 45,000 tons topped the list of border crossings through which transit were carried out during the period under review.

From among the aforementioned, said Ghaniyyoun, only transit through Imam Khomeini Port located in the southern Khuzestan Province, experienced an 82.99% plunge while the transit volume through the nine other ports saw a considerable increase.

Total Trade at $29b

Iran traded 50.8 million tons of non-oil goods worth $29 billion with other countries during the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 21-July 22), indicating an increase of 21% in weight and 47% in value compared with the corresponding period of last year.

According to Mehdi Mirashrafi, the IRICA chief, exports reached 38.3 million tons worth $14.3 billion, which shows a year-on-year growth rates of 27% and 65% in weight and value, respectively.

Major exported goods included liquefied gas, polyethylene, semi-finished steel products, methanol, gasoline, steel ingots, liquid propane, bitumen and copper cathode.

The main export destinations included China (10 million tons of goods worth $4.3 billion), Iraq (10.9 million tons worth $2.8 billion), the UAE (4.3 million tons worth $1.6 billion), Turkey (1 million tons worth $923 million) and Afghanistan (1.8 million tons worth $728 million).

Imports hit 12.5 million tons worth $14.5 billion, registering an increase of 5% in weight and 32% in value compared with last year’s same period, ISNA reported.

Main exporters to Iran were the UAE (4 million tons of goods worth $4.7 billion), China (1 million tons worth $3.1 billion), Turkey (1.3 million tons worth $1.5 billion), Germany (351,000 tons worth $563 million) and Switzerland (672,000 tons worth $539 million).

Iran imported 9.4 million tons of essential goods during the period, of which 8.4 million tons were six government subsidized items.