A total of 6.6 million tons of essential goods have been unloaded at Iranian ports of entry since March 20 (the beginning of the current Iranian year), of which Imam Khomeini Port in the southern Khuzestan Province accounts for 4.1 million tons, says Ravanbakhsh Behzadian, a senior official with the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran.
He added that 545,000 tons of essential goods have been imported through Iran’s only oceanic port, Chabahar, on the coast of the Sea of Oman in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province since March 20.
Imam Khomeini Port is the main hub for import of essential goods in Iran.
Also known as necessity goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
Imam Khomeini Port, according to Adel Deris, director general of Khuzestan Province’s Ports and Maritime Organization, possesses 40 wharfs, 140 kilometers of railroads within its premises and is equipped with the latest loading and unloading facilities.
Last year (March 2019-20), some 3 million tons of goods were transported from this port using around 53,000 wagons.
Close to 90% of Iran's demand for livestock feed raw material and 79% of grains are imported through this southern port.
There are currently 3.6 million tons of essential goods at Iranian ports, the lion’s share of which is 1.9 million tons of corn
A total of 922,000 tons of commodities were transported via railroad from Khuzestan Province’s Imam Khomeini Port to different destinations across the country during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 20), which shows a 29% increase in the volume of transported goods compared with the similar period of last year, according to the director general of the South Railroad General Bureau.
“More than 260,000 tons of this amount pertained to grains, indicating a 126% hike YOY,” Abdolkarim Darvishzadeh was also quoted as saying by the News Portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The main goods transported via railroad over the three-month period were essential goods, including corn, wheat, oilcake, charcoal and aluminum sheets.
The port was the second busiest port of Iran in the last fiscal year that ended on March 19, 2019, after Shahid Rajaee Port, as it handled more than 44.15 million tons of commodities. The figure registered a 13.26% year-on-year increase.
Non-oil goods accounted for more than 29.45 million tons and oil products for over 14.7 million tons of the total throughput in Imam Khomeini Port, registering an 18.88% and 3.46% growth respectively year-on-year.
Corn, Wheat Constitute Main Imported Essential Goods
Year to date, corn and wheat have been the country’s main imported essential goods: 2.6 million tons of corn and 2.1 million tons of wheat were unloaded at ports during the period under review, Behzadian said.
“There are 3.6 million tons of essential goods at Iranian ports, the lion’s share of which is 1.9 million tons of corn,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News on Monday.
A total of 25.09 million tons of essential goods worth $15.5 billion were imported into Iran during the last fiscal year (March 2019-20) to register a 20.77% and 17.13% increase in weight and value respectively compared with the year before.
This amount of essential goods’ imports accounted for close to 71% and 35% of the volume and value of last year’s total imports respectively, according to spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs administration, Rouhollah Latifi.
“The imported essential commodities included wheat, sugar, corn, rubber, barley, processed tea, rice, different kinds of seeds, red meat, soybeans, pulses, paper, fertilizers and industrial machinery,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.`
Latest data provided by the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran show Iran’s 21 major commercial ports loaded and unloaded a total of 28.65 million tons of commodities during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 20) to register a 27.86% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
Container loading and unloading decreased by 30% to stand at more than 342,915 TEUs.
The decline comes amid heavily-imposed economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic by the United States, the effects of which have been further complicated by the worldwide outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the subsequent downfall in global trade.
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 Rajaee, 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.
More than 139.65 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded at the aforementioned ports during the last Iranian year (March 2019-20) to register a meager rise of 0.17% compared with the corresponding period of last year.
