A total of 9.3 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded in the southern Imam Khomeini Port during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 20), according to the director general of Khuzestan Province’s Ports and Maritime Organization.
“More than 7 million tons of the total sum pertained to non-oil goods and the rest to oil products,” Adel Deris was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The official said that during the same period, more than 4 million tons of essential goods were transported from Imam Khomeini Port to destinations across the country to register a 24% rise compared with the similar period of last year.
“Wheat, corn, barley, oilseeds, oilcake, sugar, rice and edible oils made up the lion’s share of these goods,” he added.
In the last fiscal year (March 2019-20), the port handled nearly 15.7 million tons of essential goods.
Also known as necessity goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
Imam Khomeini Port is the main hub for the import of essential goods in Iran.
A total of 25.09 million tons of essential goods worth close to $15.5 billion were imported into Iran during the last fiscal year (March 2019-20) to register a 20.77% and 17.13% increase in weight and value respectively compared with the year before
Imam Khomeini Port, Deris told IRNA, has 40 wharfs, 140 kilometers of railroads and is equipped with the latest loading and unloading facilities. Last year (March 2019-20), some 3 million tons of goods were transported from this port using around 53,000 wagons.
Close to 90% of Iran's demand for livestock feed raw materials as well as 79% of grains are imported through this southern port.
A total of 922,000 tons of commodities were transported via rail from the port to destinations across the country during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 20), which shows a 29% increase in the volume of transported goods compared with the similar period of last year, according to the director general of the South Railroad General Bureau.
“More than 260,000 tons of this amount pertained to grains, indicating a 126% hike YOY,” Abdolkarim Darvishzadeh was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The main goods transported via railroads over the period were essential goods, including corn, wheat, oilcake, charcoal and aluminum sheets.
The port was the second busiest port of Iran in the last fiscal year that ended on March 19, after Shahid Rajaee Port, as it handled more than 44.15 million tons of commodities. The figure registered a 13.26% increase YOY.
Non-oil goods accounted for more than 29.45 million tons and oil products for over 14.7 million tons of the total throughput in Imam Khomeini Port, registering an 18.88% and 3.46% growth respectively year-on-year.