Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 18/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Iran plans to increase capacities of its commercial ports by 100 percent by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013), IRIB quoted the head of the Ports and Maritime Organization Ataollah Sadr as saying.
Capacities at Shahid Rajaee Port, Shahid Beheshti Port will be doubled to 6 million tons, while capacity at Bandar Anzali Port will be raised to 16 million tons, he added.
In August, Sadr said that the 11 major ports of Iran have the loading and unloading capacity of up to 172 million tons.
He added that just 135 million tons of the ports' capacity is currently being used for loading and unloading goods.
The ports have the capacity of 5.7 million TEU, but only 3 million TEU of the capacity is being used, he noted.
Iran's trade turnover in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, amounted to $65.5 billion.
The country conducted transactions with 150 countries during the mentioned period of time.
Exports stood at $28 billion, while imports surpassed $37.4 billion in the 8-month period.
Iran's annual trade turnover is projected to reach $160 billion by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (March 2016).