“Some 3.5 million tons of goods were exported and the remaining 1 million tons were imported from and to Shahid Rajaee using the port’s 63 kilometers of railroads,” Alireza Karajiran was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and urban Development.
With 12 wharfs, Shahid Rajaee is Iran’s biggest container port, accounting for 90% of the country’s total container throughput.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee, which is located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province.
Hormozgan Ports and Maritime Organization finalized investment contracts with five local and one foreign company on Dec. 24. Agreements signed in the presence of Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami are worth 250 trillion rials ($960 million) and aim to develop 2,400 hectares of hinterlands newly added to Shahid Rajaee Port and improve southern ports to ports of third generation.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 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 the 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 agreements signed on Thursday include investment by Bama Company for establishing zinc, lead and manganese factories, Entekhab Industrial Group’s for construction of home appliance plants, Kayhan Port and Maritime Services Company’s for creating a variety of industries and Nahavand Arman Company’s investment for establishing a refinery.
A Chinese company will also invest for establishing a container manufacturing plant.
The Ports and Maritime Organization also finalized a memorandum of understanding with Bank Melli Iran Brokerage Company that 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 approach pursued by the ministry and PMO over the past 40 years. As per the development plan, their capacity must reach 500 million tons in five years.”
“The Ports and Maritime Organization has finalized 336 contracts worth 1,300 trillion rials [$5 billion] with the private sector to date,” said Mohammad Rastad, the organization’s managing director.