A total of $20 million worth of non-oil commodities were exported to the Caspian Sea littoral countries from the northern Mazandaran Province’s Amirabad Port during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20), which is one-fourth of the volume exported over the similar period of last year.
Director General of Amirabad Port Amir Jamshidi blamed the decline on the Covid-19 pandemic, which closed down many businesses and industrial units producing export goods in the province.
“Over the same nine months, 1.33 million tons of goods worth $4.76 billion were imported into Amirabad Port from Russia and the other Caspian Sea littoral countries, showing a 38% and 35% decline compared with the corresponding period of last year,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Livestock and poultry feed were the main imported commodities through Amirabad Port.
The official said 342,000 tons of products worth $26 million were transited through Amirabad from the Caspian states to those of the Persian Gulf as well as Afghanistan over the period under review. The value was 2 1/2 times more YOY.
Mazandaran has three ports, namely Amirabad, Noshahr and Fereydounkenar, with the first being the most active in the region. In fact, Amirabad is the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest in Iran.
A total of 3.6 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded in Amirabad during the last Iranian year that ended on March 19, 2020.
According to Jamshidi, Amirabad Port revenues increased by 9% last year to reach 2.88 trillion rials ($11 million).
A contract was signed in 2020 for the construction of a silo with a storage capacity of 30,000 tons of grains in Amirabad Port.
According to Director of Amirabad Special Economic Zone Mohammad Ali Saeedi, the BOT (build, operation and transfer) contract is expected to be completed within two years.
“Presently, Amirabad has the capacity to store 235,000 tons of grains. More silos with a collective capacity of another 235,000 tons are under construction,” the official was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The new silo will be built on around 7,000 square meters of land and create 12 direct jobs for local people.
