Private sector investments in Iranian ports amounted to 13.54 trillion rials ($107.22 million) in the last Iranian year (March 2018-19), showing a 102.15% rise compared with that of the previous year.
The investments were made in 18 projects, ISNA reported.
Iran’s private sector has invested 102.9 trillion rials ($814.71 million) in 318 southern and northern port projects in the last 10 years (March 2009-19).
The highest volume of investments over the past decade was made in the southern Shahid Rajaee Port with close to 28.27 trillion rials ($223.81 million).
Located 23 kilometers west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan Province, Shahid Rajaee is Iran’s biggest container port.
With over half of Iran’s commercial trading conducted there, the port complex also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
According to Mohammad Reza Rezaei-Kouchi, the head of Majlis Development Commission, Shahid Rajaee Port has a 6% share in the region’s total container throughput.
Following Shahid Rajaee were Imam Khomeini and Chabahar ports with 28.08 trillion rials ($222.34 million) and 26.35 trillion rials ($208.67 million) respectively.
Investments by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization stood at 16.25 trillion rials (over $128.65 million) last year to register a 66.74% increase year-on-year.
PMO’s overall investments in the past decade stood at 72.64 trillion rials ($575.15 million).
Rezaei-Kouchi said Iran’s 11 major commercial ports have up to 80% untapped capacity.
Iranian Ports' Throughput
More than 129.6 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded at Iran’s 21 major ports in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2019) to register a 17.07% decline year-on-year.
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 alongside the Sea of Oman and the northern ports of Fereydounkenar, Noshahr, Astara, Amirabad and Anzali on the coastlines of the Caspian Sea.
Data published in the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran's website show non-oil goods accounted for close to 88.4 million tons of the total throughput, showing an 18.55% fall YOY.
The remaining 41.48 million tons pertained to oil products, indicating a 13.62% decline YOY.
Container loading and unloading decreased by 42.32% to stand at 1.77 million TEUs.
More than 63.15 million tons of commodities were exported from the ports under review and 27.34 million tons were imported.
A total of 6.59 million tons of goods were transited through the Iranian port during the same period.
More than 67.7 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded in Hormozgan Province’s Shahid Rajaee Port, registering a 21.2% decrease compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
In fact, Shahid Rajaee was the country’s busiest port during the period under review. Non-oil goods accounted for 43.64 million tons and oil products amounted to 24.3 million tons, showing a 28.38% and 2.92% fall respectively year-on-year.
Imam Khomeini Port in the southern Khuzestan Province was the second busiest port last year, handling more than 38.98 million tons of commodities. The figure shows a 10.6% fall YOY.
Non-oil goods accounted for 26.77 million tons and oil products for around 14.21 million tons of the total throughput at Imam Khomeini Port, registering a 1.04% rise and an 16.94% fall respectively YOY.
The third busiest was Qeshm Port in southern Iran. More than 6.09 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded there, indicating an 11.9% fall compared with the similar period of last year.
Non-oil goods accounted for more than 5.9 million tons and oil products for 112,096 tons of the total throughput in Qeshm Port, showing a 12.02% and 5.33% decline respectively YOY.
Close to 16.42 million passengers were transported to and from the aforementioned ports, registering a 3.46% decrease compared with last year’s corresponding period.
