The 21 ports under study include Iran’s southern ports of Abadan, Imam Khomeini, Bushehr, Khorramshahr, Genaveh, Bandar Lengeh, Chavibdeh, Arvandkenar, Charak and Dayyer on the shores of the Persian Gulf, Shahid Rajaee, Shahid Bahonar, Qeshm and Tiab at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, Jask and Chabahar along the Sea of Oman and the northern ports of Fereydounkenar, Noshahr, Astara, Amirabad and Anzali on the coastline of Caspian Sea.
Reviewing the ports under review's throughput over the past months shows that the initial declining trajectory, which started last year, is now turning a corner.
Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran's data published for the first month and the first two months of the current Iranian year show the overall throughput registered a 5.8% and 4.47% decline respectively, according to Financial Tribune.
This is while for the entire fiscal 2018-19, the loading and unloading of goods in Iranian ports saw a 17% decline compared with the year before.
According to PMO's latest data, non-oil goods accounted for over 25.83 million tons of the total throughput in Q1, showing a 3.07% rise year-on-year.
The remaining 10.48 million tons pertained to oil products, indicating a 9.63% decline YOY.
Container loading and unloading decreased by 60.28% to stand at 258,797 TEUs.
Close to 18.16 million tons of commodities were exported from the ports under review and over 8.39 million tons were imported, showing a 2.67% fall and 16.63% growth respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
A total of 1.18 million tons of goods were transited through Iranian ports during the same period, indicating a 43.18% fall YOY.
Close to 18.17 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded in Hormozgan Province’s Shahid Rajaee Port, registering a 4.42% decrease compared with the similar period of last year.
As such, Shahid Rajaee was the country’s busiest port during the period. Non-oil goods accounted for 11.81 million tons and oil products for nearly 6.36 million tons of the total, showing a 6.04% and 1.25% decrease respectively year-on-year.
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.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee. The port complex also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
According to Mohammad Reza Rezaei Kouchi, the head of Majlis Development Commission, Shahid Rajaee Port has a 6% share in the region’s total container throughput per annum, ILNA reported.
Imam Khomeini Port in the southern Khuzestan Province was the second busiest port during the three months under review, handling more than 11.21 million tons of commodities. The figure shows a 1.56% increase YOY.
Non-oil goods accounted for more than 8.13 million tons and oil products for 3.08 million tons of the total throughput in Imam Khomeini Port, registering a 19.01% growth and a 26.76% fall respectively year-on-year.
The third busiest port was Qeshm also in southern Iran. More than 1.95 tons of goods were loaded and unloaded there, indicating a 19.45% increase compared with the similar period of last year.
Non-oil goods accounted for over 1.91 tons and oil products for 39,930 tons of the total throughput in Qeshm Port, showing an 18.74% and 67% growth respectively YOY.
A total of 3.07 million passengers were transported to and from the aforementioned ports, registering a 44.98% plunge compared with last year’s similar period.
According to Mohammad Ali Hassanzadeh, the deputy head of Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, 90% of Iran’s trade in terms of weight are via sea, of which the country’s southern ports account for 81%.