More than 1.09 million tons of cargo were loaded and unloaded in Amirabad Port in the northern province of Mazandaran during the first quarter of the current Iranian year (March 21-June 21), registering a 31% year-on-year increase, according to Mohammad Ali Mousapour, a local official.
The port’s loading/unloading volume accounted for 59% of the total throughput of Caspian ports during the period.
The official noted that 25,798 tons of goods were transported to/from the port via railroad during the period, registering a 90% increase.
A total of 254,283 tons were exported from the port in Q1, registering an 11% increase compared with the same period of last year, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
Metals, petrochemicals, construction materials and minerals were the main goods exported from the port to the Commonwealth of Independent States’ member countries during the period.
The port’s container throughput stood at 3,502 TEUs, registering a 275% rise.
A total of 278 vessels, 48,102 trucks and 642 wagons transported goods to/from the port to their destinations across the country during the period.
Amirabad is the largest port facility on the Caspian shore and the third largest in Iran.
“Its location along the International North-South Transportation Corridor makes transportation through Amirabad Port safe, cost-effective and much faster than the alternative routes,” Director General of Amirabad Ports and Maritime Organization Mohammad Ali Asl-Saeedipour has been quoted as saying.
The combined capacity of Iran’s five Caspian ports, namely Anzali, Noshahr, Fereydounkenar, Astara and Amirabad is at 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 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, 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, the port’s shipping traffic is even lower than that of Amirabad Port.”
