TEHRAN – As announced by a provincial official, 48.5 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded in the ports of southern Hormozgan province in the first half of the present Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22).

Hossein Abbasnejad, the director-general of the Ports and Maritime Department of Hormozgan, said that the ports of province accounted for 45 percent of loading and unloading operation in the ports of country during the six-month period.

According to a report released by the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), the loading and unloading of goods in the ports of the country has risen 4.8 percent during the first half of the present year, as compared to the first half of the past year.

Based on the mentioned report, 109.733 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded in the ports of Iran during the first half of this year, while the figure was 104.698 million tons in the first half of the previous year.

As reported, loading and unloading of non-oil products stood at 54.777 million tons in the six-month of this year, up 0.8 percent from 54.366 million tons in the same time span of the previous year.

In terms of oil products, this year’s figure was 54.955 million tons, rising 9.2 percent from 50.331 million tons in the past year.

For the container sector, a growth of 8.2 percent was achieved, as 1.273 million TEUs were loaded and unloaded in the first half of this year, while the figure was 1.176 million TEUs in the first half of the past 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 a 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 facilitating the loading and unloading of goods, especially basic commodities, there.

MA/MA