Deal to Transport Steel Via Railroad

Islamic Republic of Iran Railways has signed a deal with Esfahan Steel Company for the transportation of ESCO’s products to the southern port of Shahid Rajaee.  Seyyed Morteza Aliahmadi, an IRIR executive, said the agreement stipulates transporting at least 250,000 tons of ESCO-made products for export via railroad, IRIR reported in a Tuesday press release.  He added that ESCO was also planning to use railroad for its shipments to the eastern city of Zahedan close to Pakistan’s border as well as exports to Afghanistan.  Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province is Iran’s biggest container port, accounting for more than half of Iran’s total port throughput. Some 44 million tons of goods worth more than $11.14 billion were exported from and nearly 10 million tons worth $18.65 billion were imported to Iran via Shahid Rajaee Port in the last fiscal year, registering a 44% and 12% growth in tonnage and value respectively compared to the year before.