Some 7.532 million tons of commodities were transited through Iran in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) despite the restrictions created by the coronavirus pandemic, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.
According to Ruhollah Latifi, transit of goods via Iran declined only 67 tons or 0.8 percent compared to the preceding year 1398 (March 2019-March 2020).
The mentioned volume of transit was achieved despite the fact that the figure was expected to fall significantly in the said year.
Back in July 2020, Mostafa Ayati, the director-general of IRICA’s Transit Bureau had announced that the transit of commodities through Iran was expected to fall 30 percent in the mentioned year.
As reported, Shahid Rajaei Special Zone in Hormozgan province with 3.305 million tons, Bazargan in West Azarbaijan province with 703,000 tons, Bashmaq in Kurdistan province with 687,000 tons, Sarakhs in Khorasan Razavi with 457,000 tons, Imam Khomeini Port in Khuzestan province with 447,000 tons, Bileh Savar in Ardabil province with 337,000 tons, Jolfa in East Azarbaijan province with 312,000 thousand tons, Razi in West Azarbaijan province with 188,000 tons, Astara in Gilan province with 156,000 tons and Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province with 139,000 tons of transited goods, were the country’s top 10 customs in terms of the volume of transits.
Considering its geographical location, Iran can play a significant role in the transit of goods in the region and benefit a lot from its status in this due. To take full advantage of its location for transit, the country has many plans underway and, on the agenda, to boost its transit capacity.
Some of these plans include developing Iran’s largest container port, Shahid Rajaee Port in the southern province of Hormozgan, and also Chabahar Port in the southeast of the country, connecting the ports to the railway network, development of transit via railway, and also some customs measures such as improving transit procedures in the customs offices.
Source : Tehran Times
