Exports of non-oil commodities from Anzali Port located in Gilan Province experienced a 91% year-on-year rise during the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Aug. 22), according to the director general of the northern province’s Ports and Maritime Organization.
“Our main exports included construction materials and different kinds of agricultural products and foodstuff,” Hamidreza Abaei was also quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The official said Anzali Port’s throughput registered a 3% increase over the same five months, adding that loading and unloading of non-oil products showed a 36% YOY rise during the last Iranian year (March 2020-21).
“Using Ro/Ro facilities, transit goods, automobiles in particular, are transported via Gilan ports from Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Qatar and Oman to Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,” he added.
As the only free zone in the southern part of Caspian Sea with an area of 9,400 hectares and a 40-km shoreline, Anzali is located in Gilan Province. It launched its official activity in 2005.
In addition to the legal incentives and exemptions of free zones such as tax exemption for 20 years, plus customs duties and value-added exemptions, the FTZ boasts special advantages as it is located along the International North–South Transport Corridor, according to its website.
The strategic location of FTZ also allows easy access to populous markets of the Caucasian and Central Asian countries. It is also home to Anzali Free Zone Mercantile Exchange and Anzali Port.
The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multimodal network of ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight across India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc.
Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014; the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key bottlenecks. The results showed transport costs were reduced by $2,500 per 15 tons of cargo.
Other routes under consideration included via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.