TEHRAN - Loading and unloading of goods in the ports of Iran rose 10.7 percent during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), as compared to the same period in the previous year, IRNA reported.

According to PMO’s Ports Affairs Director Ravanbakhsh Behzadian, loading and unloading of goods at the country’s commercial ports reached 82.24 million tons in the mentioned period, while the figure stood at 74.31 million tons in the past year’s same time span.

During the said seven months, unloading and loading operations in the container sector reached 11.09 million tons, for dry bulk the figure stood at 26.56 million tons, in liquid bulk the figure was 2.56 million tons, while for general cargo (general and miscellaneous goods) it was 11.46 million tons and for the petroleum products loading and unloading volume amounted to 30.57 million tons, Behzadian said.

He noted that the loading and unloading operations in the dry bulk sector grew by 14.5 percent in the mentioned period compared to the last year’s same time span, while in the liquid bulk sector the figure increased by 27.5 percent, in the general cargo sector the growth was 8.8 Percent and the petroleum sector also experienced a growth of 17.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

While Iran is combating the U.S. unilateral sanctions on its economy, the country’s ports as the major gates of exports and imports play some significant role in this battle. This role makes all-out support to ports and more development of them serious and vital.

Such necessity has led the government to define projects for more development of the ports and also take some measures to encourage investment making in ports, in addition, to facilitate loading and unloading of goods, especially basic commodities, there.

It is worth mentioning that PMO has defined a high number of projects to develop and improve the country’s ports, as the country aims to double the capacity of its ports in a course of five years.

According to the Ports and Maritime Organization, the capacity of the country's ports has increased from 180 million tons in the Iranian calendar year 1392 (ended in March 2014) to 250 million tons in the previous calendar year.

The total capacity of the country’s ports is expected to reach 280 million tons by the end of the current fiscal year (late March 2022).

EF/MA