TEHRAN – Over 154 million tons (mt) of goods were transported through Iran’s roads in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21) of which 6.5 million tons of basic goods were distributed from the country’s ports, according to the head of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.

“Some 62 percent of these basic goods were distributed from Imam Khomeini port and the rest from Bandar Abbas and Amirabad ports.,” Darioush Amani told IRIB.

According to Amani, last year, a total of 502 million tons of goods were transported through the country's road network, which was unprecedented and grew by 5.6 percent compared to the preceding year.

Over 25 million tons of the transported goods in the previous calendar year were basic goods, the official explained.

Amani stated that currently, 2,000 trucks transport 50,000 tons of goods per day from Imam Khomeini Port, adding that the number of trucks should be increased to 2,400 vehicles a day in order to offset imports and increase the clearance process of the goods in the said port.

The official added that over 3,600 vehicles and machines are currently operating to unload goods at the country’s ports.

Back in May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) to take the necessary measures to accelerate the clearance of basic goods deposited at the country’s customs.

According to IRICA Deputy Head Mehrdad Jamal Orounaqi, in a meeting of the government economic coordination headquarters, some problems and issues were raised regarding the clearance of goods in the country’s customs, and a report was presented to the president.

Following the mentioned meeting, Rouhani issued a decree ordering to investigate and resolve the mentioned problems and also agreed with the IRICA and Industry Ministry’s proposals in this regard.

According to Orounaqi, currently, over 5.2 million tons of basic goods were piled up in the country’s ports at the time, of which 3.8 million tons were deposited at Imam Khomeini Port.

Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad had earlier said that the outbreak of the coronavirus was the main reason for the delay in the clearance of goods from ports and customs.

EF/MA