The government aims to increase the country’s nominal port throughput capacity to 285 million tons per annum by the end of its tenure in August, according to a recent Ports and Maritime Organization report.
Iran’s annual nominal port capacity stood at around 180 million tons in 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani first took office, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
The report noted that the country’s container loading and unloading capacities, which stood at 4.58 million TEUs in 2013, are expected to reach 8.5 million TEUs per year by the end of Rouhani’s second term.
Passenger transport capacity is also expected to increase from 14 million to 25 million people per year over the period.
Mohammad Rastad, the PMO chief, has been quoted as saying by IRNA that the government intends to make the utmost use of private sector investments and resources in developing port infrastructures.
A total of 13.8 million tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded in Iran’s commercial ports during the first 40 days of the current Iranian year (March 21-April 30).
The throughput shows a 2.2% rise compared with the similar period of last year, data recently released by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development show.
Container shipping stood at 1.72 million tons, solid and liquid bulk cargo transport at 4.41 million tons and 410,000 tons respectively, general cargo at 1.8 million tons and oil products at 5.5 million tons.
The ministry’s data take into account the throughput of Iran’s southern ports of Abadan, Imam Khomeini, Bushehr, Khorramshahr, Genaveh, Bandar Lengeh, Arvandkenar, Charak, Chavibdeh 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 on the coasts of the Sea of Oman and the northern ports of Fereydounkenar, Noshahr, Astara, Amirabad and Anzali on the Caspian Sea shoreline.
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.
Container loading and unloading in Shahid Rajaee Port in the southern Hormozgan Province reached 126,850 TEUs during the first month of the current Iranian year (March 21-April 20), showing a 12% rise compared with the similar period of last year, according to the director general of the province’s Ports and Maritime Organization.
“Container exports over the period hit 42,000 TEUs, indicating a 59% year-on-year rise,” Alireza Mohammadi Karajiran was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The official said container transit over the same period stood at 20,231 TEUs, registering a 160% upsurge compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Mohammadi noted that during the one-month period, a total of 158 container vessels entered the southern port, saying the figure showed a rise withou specifying the amount.
Plans to Build Iran’s Biggest Commercial Port
According to the PMO chief, a new commercial port will be set up in Kouh Mobarak, the central district of Jask County of Hormozgan Province, adding that the new port will serve oceangoing vessels along the Makran Coast.
“The port will be constructed in three phases with a capacity of between 100 and 200 million tons. Compared with existing ports, it will become the country’s largest commercial port in terms of capacity,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Rastad said PMO will not launch the execution phase of the project sooner than the fiscal 2025-26, but will complete research and studies regarding the design and construction procedures until then.
The strategic Makran region has attracted the attention of many Iranian decision-makers and military officials, particularly after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stressed the need for developing the region.
In 2014, in a meeting with high-ranking Navy commanders, Ayatollah Khamenei said the development of Makran Coast is a major task and plans for that region should be carried out more rapidly.
Ayatollah Khamenei has called the region an “undiscovered treasure”. In 2008, he said Iran focused all its attention on the Persian Gulf and ignored “our enormous wealth in the Sea of Oman”.
This body of water, he added, is “the backbone of the Persian Gulf and determines its fate”.
Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip stretched along southeastern Iran to Pakistan’s Balochistan and borders the coasts of Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
The Iranian part of Makran Coast, bordering two southern provinces of Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchestan, has been earmarked as a prime location for development, as its location makes it ideal for becoming a commercial hub in southern Iran.
The region has high potential for sea trade. It can provide Iran with access to the Indian Ocean and acts as an outlet for landlocked countries in South and Central Asia. It can also be an alternative route to deliver goods to Iran bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Special Plan for Development of Makran Region includes three long-term plans ending 2020, 2030 and 2040.
The government has come up with a strategic plan for the development of Makran Coast, setting guidelines to achieve the sustainable development of the region and benefit its indigenous people while lowering social and environmental damage, as the area boasts a wide range of investment opportunities.
It estimated that development projects planned by different bodies, such as the ministries of agriculture, industries and roads, will increase the population of the region to one million by the end of 2020, by creating new jobs and making the region more habitable.
The plan assures fair distribution of businesses and population to prevent centralization. It also aims to create “endogenous development” as opposed to “exogenous development”.
“This new port will be Iran's second oceanic port after Chabahar in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan and will accommodate large vessels,” Rastad was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The PMO chief explained that the organization is mostly focused on constructing a container port that can handle the region’s required throughput without diminishing the share of other existing ports like Chabahar or Shahid Rajaee. Yet, the facility could, at the same time, be designed to handle wholesale cargos and essential goods as well.
“We want the port to have easy and quick access to different transportation modes. With proper access to rail and road routes, the envisaged port could turn into the region’s transit and transshipment hub,” he said.
Rastad noted that the construction of this new port is estimated to take around five years.
