EHRAN- Transit of goods through Shahid Rajaee port, Iran’s largest and best-equipped container port, increased 100 percent in the first five month of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, according to a provincial official.

Alireza Mohammadi Karajiran, the director-general of Ports and Maritime Department of Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, where the port lies, said that 112,827 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of commodities were transited via Shahid Rajaee port in the said five-month period.

In the first five months of this year, 675 container ships have entered and exited Shahid Rajaee port, which shows three percent increase compared to the same period last year, the official added.

Enjoying the most modern container terminals and port equipment, Shahid Rajaee accounts for 85 percent of the total loading and unloading at the Iranian ports.

Given its significant role in the country’s import and export of products as well as transit and transshipment via Iran, the development of Shahid Rajaee Port has been among the most important development projects in the country.

In late December last year, Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) signed six memorandums of understanding (MOU) with domestic companies for investing 100 trillion rials (about $2.38 billion) plus €800 million in development projects of Shahid Rajaee port’s hinterland.

The signing ceremony was attended by the former Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami, and the PMO Head Mohammad Rastad.

The mentioned investments will be made in a variety of projects including zinc, lead, manganese, and copper factories, the construction, and development of industrial components and parts production units, development and integration of the existing industrial units in the area, construction of an alumina refinery, as well as the construction of container manufacturing units.

Implementation and construction of production units in Shahid Rajaee Port will make this port a center for value-added production and a logistics center, which will upgrade the port's level to the third generation and significantly reduce transportation and storage costs.

Back in August 2019, PMO’s Director of Engineering and Infrastructure Development Mohammadreza Allahyar had said that the port’s capacity is planned to rise 2.1 million TEUs to reach 8 million TEUs.

Today, transit has become more important due to the expanded global trade relations and the intensity of competition for new markets. So that many countries have achieved huge incomes in this way by planning and making optimal use of their transit opportunities and facilities.

Iran is one of the countries that has a special status in trade and transit relations due to its strategic location and special geography, as the country is the passage of several important international corridors.

In the south of Iran is the Persian Gulf, which is home to the world's major oil-producing countries. This region is considered as the energy bottleneck of the world.

In the north of Iran is the Caspian Sea, which is the best bridge between Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and can play an important role in trade between these countries.

Considering the country’s transit statistics, it is obvious that Iran is taking the advantage of its strategic status in this due.

MA/MA