TEHRAN- More than 118.87 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at ports of Iran during the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2016- January 19, 2017), an increase of 9.4 percent year on year.

Non-oil goods accounted for 79.95 million tons of the loading and unloading operations, according to a report released by the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran (PMO).

The organization has it on the agenda to increase the current 209 million-ton capacity of the country’s trade ports to 217 million tons, IRNA quoted PMO’s Managing Director Mohammad Saeednejad as saying in October 2016.

According to Saeednejad, PMO also aims to increase the container capacity of Iran’s trade ports from 4.86 million to 5 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017).

The official also underscored investment, implementation and management projects related to the container terminals of Shahid Rajaee port in south of Iran as vital for the organization.

HJ/MA/MG