A total of 2.44 million tons of oil and non-oil products were transited through Iran during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 21-June 21), which register a 6% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year, the director general of Hormozgan Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization said.
“Around 703,671 tons of commodities were transited from Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the southern Hormozgan Province during the three-month period, which accounted for close to 29% of the transit goods. As such, the port was the most active point of entry among the country’s 32 border terminals during the period,” Daryoush Baqer-Javan was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
He added that the main transit goods were fuel, chemicals, construction materials, home appliances and cotton.
Shahid Rajaee Port was followed by the border terminals of Parviz Khan in Kermanshah, Bazargan in West Azarbaijan and Bashmaq in Kurdestan.
The four border checkpoints accounted for 70% of all goods transited through the country during the period.
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 that also accounts for over 85% of all container throughput in the country.
According to Director General of Hormozgan Ports and Maritime Organization Allah-Morad Afifipour, 87.03 million tons of cargos were loaded and unloaded at Shahid Rajaee Port in the last Iranian year, registering an 8% increase compared with the year before.
With 18 gantry cranes and 40 berths, Shahid Rajaee is the most advanced container port of Iran.
Development Projects in Shahid Rajaee
Mohammad Reza Allahyar, deputy head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization for engineering and infrastructure affairs, said Iran has purchased 12 more gantry cranes worth €105 million for Shahid Rajaee from the German engineering firm Liebherr who recently won a tender floated by PMO. Some of these cranes are already assembled and others are being put in place.
“The project, which includes design, provision of raw materials and parts, construction, loading and transportation of crane parts into the port, assembling and installation, has made 90% progress. It is estimated that the project will come on stream during the second half of the current Iranian year,” he added.
According to Allahyar, the completion of the project will allow ultra large container vessels to berth at Shahid Rajaee Port.
President Hassan Rouhani broke ground on Phase 3 of Shahid Rajaee Port in February.
Upon the completion of the terminal within three years, the port’s capacity is expected to increase to 8 million TEU.
Launched in 1985, the port has since expanded every year. Today it is connected to 80 top international ports.
The significance of this port lies in its large capacity, including its location in the Persian Gulf, container terminal, fuel bunkering, access to 24 kilometers of railroads and round-the-clock truck transportation.
Hormozgan Province, where Shahid Rajaee is located, has 32 active ports, including Shahid Bahonar, Jask, Lengeh, Tiab, Aftab and Kish, which act as backups to Shahid Rajaee.
