“Out of the total amount, nearly 4.23 million tons were non-oil commodities and the rest were oil products. Container loading and unloading stood at 172,688 TEUs during the one-month period,” Allahmorad Afifipour was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The official, who doubles as the manager of Shahid Rajaee Special Economic Zone, added that during the same period, 332 vessels docked at the port, 290 of which weighed more than 1,000 tons.
In the last Iranian year (March 20017-18), loading and unloading at the strategic Iranian port stood at more than 87.03 million tons to register an 8% increase compared with the year before. Non-oil exports from the port exceeded 39.39 million tons to register an 8% rise while imports reached 9.58 million tons, almost unchanged year-on-year. Oil exports and imports from and into the port stood close to 8.12 million and 2.7 million tons respectively, Financial Tribune reported.
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 at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
President Hassan Rouhani broke ground on Phase 3 of Shahid Rajaee Port in February.
Upon the completion of the terminal within three years, the port’s capacity will increase to 8 million TEU, the official said, adding that about 10,000 billion rials ($222 million) will only be invested in improving the infrastructure of the port, ILNA reported.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out in Shahid Rajaee. The port complex also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
Shahid Rajaee is the most advanced Iranian container port that can accommodate Panamax cargo ships with a capacity of more than 12,000 TEU.
Launched in 1985, the port has expanded every year thereafter. Today it is connected to 80 top ports across the world.
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.
Hormozgan Province, where Shahid Rajaee is located, has 32 active ports, including Shahid Bahonar, Jask, Lengeh, Tiab, Aftab and Kish, which act as backups to Shahid Rajaee.