The Third International Exhibition of Transportation and Related Industries opened in Tehran on Sunday in the presence of Roads and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami.
Some 200 Iranian and foreign companies are participating in this year’s event, held at Tehran's Grand Mosalla, exhibiting latest products and services in the fields of transportation and related industries, renovation of fleet and equipment, and management methods, the news portal of Roads Ministry reported.
The Third Startup Weekend of Communications and Transportation Networks is also being concurrently held at the same venue with the aim of promoting an entrepreneurship culture in the field.
The exhibition will run for three days and conclude on Dec. 18.
A locomotive equipped with a locally-made engine was unveiled on the occasion of the exhibition on Sunday via a video conference.
Iran's Transportation "Unsanctionable"
Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri recently said Iran's transportation sector is not sanctionable.
He was referring to the reimposition of US sanctions against Iran after Washington announced in May that it was no longer abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with Iran and other world powers.
The nuclear deal signed in 2015 led to the removal of years of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic. In exchange, the country agreed to limit the scope of its nuclear program.
Europe is working to salvage the deal, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"The European Union will continue its cooperation with Iran in the transportation sector," said Deputy Director General of the European Commission’s Mobility and Transportation Department, Maja Bakran Marcich said.
She was speaking at the "Workshop on Ports, Maritime and Logistics", a two-day event hosted in Tehran last month in collaboration between Ports and Maritime Organization and the European Union.
"No foreign port has announced sanctions against Iranian counterparts and vessels so far," said Hadi Haqshenas, an official at Iran’s Port and Maritime Organization in an address at the event.
“Iranian ships can weather the new round of sanctions for sure.”
He added that the unruly nature of new sanctions and lack of international support for US measures ease the path for Iranian vessels to survive the ongoing conditions.
“At present, Iran is facing no legal restriction on marine transportation,” he said.
Port Operations Data
Latest statistics released by local port authorities indicate a significant decline in Iranian ports’ operations.
Container operations in Iranian ports registered a 26% downturn from March 21 to Nov. 12 compared with last year's corresponding period.
Haqshenas blamed the fall in Iran's foreign trade for the decline in ports’ operations rather than any sanctions-related measure.
The United States exempted Iran's Chabahar Port from new sanctions, allowing India to develop the strategic hub, citing the need for it to act as a connection between Afghanistan to India for the sake of boosting the war-torn economy of the former.
Under the current circumstances, Iran is now planning to redirect 20% of the container traffic from its major ports to Chabahar.
Transit Data
Latest data on goods transit through Iran show more than 5.77 million tons of oil and non-oil commodities were in transit during the seven months to Oct. 22 to register a 7% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Over 3.46 million tons of the total sum (about 60%) were non-oil products and the remaining 2.31 million tons were oil products.
"The main transited non-oil products during the seven-month period were auto spare parts, cotton, agricultural products and food products," the news portal of RMTO quoted Haqshenas as saying.
More than 1.61 million tons of commodities were transited from Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the southern Hormozgan Province during the period, accounting for around 29% of all goods in transit.
As such, the port was the most active point of entry among the country’s 32 border terminals during the seven months.
Located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, Shahid Rajaee Port is Iran’s biggest container port at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
Over half of Iran’s commercial trading is carried out at Shahid Rajaee Port, which also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
A majority of goods in transit headed from Iraq to the UAE.
Trade Data
Latest data on Iran's trade with other countries show Iran exchanged $61.04 billion worth of non-oil goods during the eight months ending Nov. 21 to register a 0.23% increase compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Exports, excluding crude oil, mazut, kerosene and suitcase trade, hit 75.27 million tons worth $31.49 billion to register a 5% decrease in weight and a 12.96% increase in value year-on-year.
Imports amounted to 21.49 million tons worth $29.54 billion, down by more than 12.58% in weight and 14.04% in value over last year’s similar period.
Iraq, China, the UAE, Afghanistan and India were the top destination for Iran's exports as China, the UAE, South Korea, India and Germany were the main exporters to Iran in a descending order.
Petrochemicals were the main exported commodity accounting for 33% of Iran’s overall non-oil exports. They were followed by gas condensates, liquefied propane, light oils, methanol and liquefied natural gas.
Exports of non-petroleum based products, including carpets and agricultural, industrial and mining products, fell in the neighborhood of 48.21 million tons worth $18.34 billion. This indicates a decrease of around 1% in weight and an increase of nearly 18% in value YOY.
Imports mainly included field corn, auto parts, rice, soybeans and graphite electrodes used in furnaces.
