Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Shipment of non-oil goods via Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port, located in Strait of Hormuz, has tripled, said Ebrahim Idani, the director of Shahid Rajaee Port's Special Economic Zone.
Idani said some 60.12 million metric tons of non-oil goods were shipped via the port since March 2014, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Jan. 28.
Meanwhile, 1.468 million metric tons of goods were transshipped to other ports, he said.
More than 1.5 million TEU equivalent of cargo were loaded and unloaded at the port, showing a 2-percent rise year on year, he said.
Nearly 85 percent of Iran's container traffic passes through Shahid Rajaee Port. The port accounts for 55 percent of Iran's total exports and imports, and 70 percent of the country's transit.
The loading and unloading capacity of Shahid Rajaee Port currently stands at 88 million metric tons per year.
Mohammad Saeidnejad, the managing director of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, said on Dec. 2 that Iran needs $500 million to complete the third phase of the Shahid Rajaee Port, located in Strait of Hormuz.
"The country wants to absorb foreign finance to carry out the project," he said.
Saeidnejad expressed hope that the phase's development plan will be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2015).
The official previously said that some $750 million is needed to implement the 2nd and the 3rd develop phases of the Shahid Rajaee Port.
"The 2nd phase of the port's development projects is being implemented using Chinese investments," he said.