More than 1.03 million tons of cargo have been loaded and unloaded in Amirabad Port in the northern province of Mazandaran since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), registering a 29% year-on-year increase, according to Mohammad Ali Mousapour, a local official.
The unloaded volume stood at 725,000 tons, registering a 37% rise.
Loading stood at 307,000 tons to register a 15% increase, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
The port also registered the transit of 44,500 tons of foreign goods to the Commonwealth of Independent states.
The official noted that 21,900 tons of goods were transported to/from the port via railroad during the period, which shows a twofold increase.
Amirabad handles the bulk of Iran’s Caspian ports’ throughput. It is the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest in Iran.
“Its location on the International North-South Transportation Corridor makes transportation through Amirabad Port safe, attractive, cost-effective and much faster than alternative routes,” Director General of Amirabad Ports and Maritime Organization Mohammad Ali Asl-Saeedipour said.
The combined capacity of Iran’s five Caspian ports, namely Anzali, Noshahr, Fereydounkenar, Astara and Amirabad, is 35 million tons, accounting for only about 13% of the total capacity of Iranian ports, according to Jalil Eslami, the deputy head of Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran.
Ali Chagharvand, director of the Plan Management, Planning and Monitoring Department of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, says poor export infrastructures and lack of adequate equipment are to blame for the low shipping traffic of northern Iranian ports and freight forwarding companies, as well as traders’ reluctance to use their services.
"Traders and transportation companies do not avail themselves of the numerous advantages of Iran’s northern ports that are in recession. Economic players believe that they are uneconomical. This is while by removing obstacles, freight transportation and trade through northern ports can become a viable alternative to other transit routes and even southern ports,” he was quoted as saying by Tasnim News Agency.
"Noshahr Port has considerable advantages, including its proximity to the capital city and major commercial and industrial centers, easy access to the consumer markets of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, access to airport, availability of facilities for storage and movement of commercial goods, petroleum products and solid bulk cargo, having exclusive warehouses and special facilities for export and transit, as well as direct connection through pipelines to Chalous oil reservoirs. However, due to several reasons, Noshahr Port’s shipping traffic is even lower than that of Amirabad Port.”
