TEHRAN - Loading and unloading of goods in the ports of Iran rose 19 percent during the first eleven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2021-February 19, 2022), as compared to the same period in the previous year.

As announced in a report by Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), loading and unloading of goods in the country’s ports reached 140.186 million tons in the mentioned period, while the figure stood at 117.517 million tons in the past year’s same time span.

During the said eleven months, unloading and loading operations in the container sector reached 1.883 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 13 percent more than 1.662 million TEUs in the first eleven months of the previous year, the report said.

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 (ended in March 2021).

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

MA/MA