Signed in the presence of Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, the agreements worth 250 trillion rials ($980 million) will help develop 2,400 hectares of hinterlands newly added to Shahid Rajaee Port and improve southern harbors to third-generation ports.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has developed a system 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 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 completing 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 current agreements include investment by Bama Company for establishing zinc, lead and manganese factories, Entekhab Industrial Group for the construction of home appliance plants, Kayhan Port and Maritime Services Company for creating a variety of industries and by Nahavand Arman Company setting up a refinery.
A Chinese company will also invest in the establishment of a container manufacturing plant.
The Ports and Maritime Organization also finalized a memorandum of understanding with Bank Melli Iran Brokerage Company whereby the latter will provide financial guarantees for these projects, the ministry’s news portal News.mrud.ir reported.
“Investment projects in Shahid Rajaee Port will create 20,000 jobs and their duration must not exceed three years,” Eslami said.
“Increasing the capacity of Iranian ports to 280 million tons was the main agenda 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.”
Mohammad Rastad, the managing director of PMO, the organization has so far finalized 336 contracts worth 1,300 trillion rials ($5.09 billion) with the private sector.
Busiest Iranian Port
Cutting transportation costs from the end price of products, improving the competitiveness of export items and adding direct and indirect jobs are the main objectives of the new investments.
Shahid Rajaee Port accounts for 50% of Iran’s marine trade, hence the establishment of added value and manufacturing centers would have a significant impact on improving the competiveness of products made in Iran.
Iran’s 21 major commercial ports handled a total of 58.44 million tons of commodities during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 20-Sept. 21) to register a 25.4% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
According to figures published by PMO, non-oil goods accounted for 36.82 million tons of the total throughput, showing a 32.45% fall year-on-year.
The remaining 21.62 million tons pertained to oil products, indicating a 9.29% decline YOY.
Container loading and unloading decreased by 39.31% to stand at 640,604 TEUs.
Besides Shahid Rajaee, the 21 ports under study include Iran’s southern ports of Abadan, Imam Khomeini, Bushehr, Khorramshahr, Genaveh, Bandar Lengeh, Chavibdeh, Arvandkenar, Charak and Dayyer located on the shores of Persian Gulf, Shahid Bahonar, Qeshm and Tiab at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, Jask and Chabahar on the coasts of the Sea of Oman and the northern ports of Fereydounkenar, Noshahr, Astara, Amirabad and Anzali on the Caspian Sea shoreline.
A total of 25.55 million tons of commodities were exported from these ports and over 14.73 million tons were imported, registering a 30.53% and 8.42% decline respectively YOY.
More than 1.58 million tons of goods were transited through these ports during the same period, indicating a 35.37% decrease compared with the corresponding period of last year.
A total of 139.65 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded at the ports under review in the last Iranian year (March 2019-20) to register a meager rise of 0.17% compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Non-oil goods accounted for more than 95.48 million tons of the total throughput, showing a 0.08% year-on-year growth. The remaining 44.16 million tons pertained to oil products, indicating a 0.7% increase YOY.
Around 69.65 million tons of commodities were exported from the ports under review and 31.15 million tons were imported during the period, showing a 10.28% and 13.92% growth respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
A total of 28.07 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded in Shahid Rajaee Port from March 20 to Sept. 21, registering a 24.8% drop year-on-year.
This made Shahid Rajaee the country’s busiest port during the period. Non-oil goods accounted for around 15.82 million tons and oil products for more than 14.69 million tons of the total, showing a 35.07% decline and a 13.33% rise respectively YOY.
Located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, Shahid Rajaee is Iran’s biggest container port.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee that 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.