Iran to increase ports capacity

Managing director of Iran’s Port and Maritime Organization says the annual capacity of Iranian ports will increase to 200 million tons by the end of the Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015).

Ataollah Sadr said on Sunday that the current capacity of the country’s ports is about 150 million tons per year, which will witness a significant rise by the end of the Fifth Development Plan, IRIB reported.

The official added that more than 40 multipurpose small ports have been constructed in the southern parts of the country since last year, noting that about 300 small ports will also be launched in the near future.

Sadr noted that the capacity of container loading and unloading in the Islamic Republic’s ports is currently at about 4.4 million per year which will increase to 7 million by the end of 2015.

Some 91 million tons of non-oil commodities have been loaded and unloaded in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), indicting a 15-percent growth against the same period of the last year.

Port capacity is the estimated capacity of a port or an anchorage to clear cargo, usually expressed in tons, that may be transported inland from a beach or a port over the available means of inland communication, including roads, railroads, and inland waterways.

Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan is part of the 20-Year Outlook Plan (2005-2025), which is the country’s main blueprint for long-term sustainable growth.