TEHRAN – Some 16.85 million tons (mt) of basic goods were cleared from the country’s ports in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), according to the Transport and Urban Development Ministry data.

Based on the mentioned data, a total of 320 mt of commodities were distributed across the country in the mentioned eight months.

Back in July, Head of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization Darioush Amani had announced that over 154 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 mt were basic goods.

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

According to the official, last year, a total of 502 mt 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 mt 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.

Earlier in May, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had 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 mt 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.

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