Transit of goods through Iranian ports along the Caspian Sea has increased by 70 percent in the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2022), announced the head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO).
“The traffic of all kinds of foreign goods to the country’s commercial ports this year has increased between eight and 10 percent compared to the same period last year,” Ali-Akbar Safai said, IRNA reported.
According to Safaei, the total volume of the export, import, and transit through the country’s ports is expected to exceed 210 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year.
The official pointed to the execution of numerous development projects in the country’s coastal areas over the past two years, saying that 60 major investment projects were started or went operational in the country’s ports during February 1-11.
Referring to the PMO’s positive collaborations with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Safaei emphasized: “The Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the effective members of IMO, plays an effective role in the formation of new maritime regulations and laws.”

An Iranian airline restored a Boeing 737 aircraft to its fleet as part of a domestic overhaul program that is aimed at offsetting the impacts of US sanctions on the Iranian aviation industry.
IRNA said in a Saturday report that the aircraft had returned to Aseman Airlines fleet after a successful test flight on Thursday that lasted one and a half hours.
The report said Iranian technicians had carried out heavy checks on the plane’s cabin and cargo sections, adding that two landing gears on the aircraft had also been replaced.
It said the repaired aircraft will increase Aseman Airlines’s seat capacity by 800 per day.
The airline had earlier restored a Fokker 100 by replacing its engine.
The Iranian government has supported domestic airlines in their efforts to restore some 100 jetliners that have remained grounded because of parts shortages as a result of US sanctions.
Earlier this month, Iran’s Qeshm Air announced it had restored an Air Airbus A320 after 11 years of grounding.
The sanctions have also barred Iranian airlines from purchasing new aircraft. A first home-made aircraft is expected to come to the market within the next few years while airlines continue to place orders for second-hand planes from other countries.

Iran’s consul general to the Pakistani city of Quetta announced his country’s readiness to boost bilateral customs cooperation and to set up joint border markets.
Hassan Darvishvand made the announcement during a visit to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port in Balochistan Province, where he met with local officials, IRNA reported. His trip took place several days ahead of the inauguration of a project that would transfer electricity from Iran to Gwadar Port. The project will be inaugurated in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Iranian diplomat, during his talks with Gwadar’s officials, said that Iran and Pakistan have numerous capacities to develop relations including in the trade sector.
Transport, joint border markets, and customs issues were among the topics discussed during the meeting.
Back in June 2022, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir Khan visited Tehran and held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali-Akbari Mehrabian to discuss the implementation of a project to export Iranian electricity to Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar.
The project had been agreed upon during an earlier meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto. According to a mutual agreement, Pakistan is to purchase 100 Megawatts (MW) of electricity from Iran to fulfill Gwadar’s power needs.

Iran exported 744,000 tons of sponge iron during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022-January 20, 2023), announced by Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA).
Based on the ISPA data, the 10-month sponge iron export indicates 24 percent fall from the figure for the same period of time in the past year, which was 985,000 tons, reported imidro.gov.ir.
Direct-reduced iron (DRI), also called sponge iron, is produced from the direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps, pellets, or fines) into iron by a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal. Many ores are suitable for direct reduction.
Among the mining sector’s different products, sponge iron is an outstanding example, as the production of this item is rising more and more in the country.
The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), as Iran’s largest metals and mining holding, has stated that one of the most important reasons for the increase in sponge iron production in Iran is the establishment of new sponge iron plants, adding that in recent years, with its new strategy and with the participation of the private sector, the organization has been able to launch several projects to produce sponge
iron.

TSE index rises 65,000 points

TSETMC – TEDPIX, the main index of Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), gained 65,520 points to hit 1,804,300 million on Sunday.
Over 26.238 billion securities worth 151.662 trillion rials (about $335.48 million) were traded at the TSE. TSE is one of the four Iranian stock exchanges and the most important one. The other three ones are Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX), and Iran’s over-the-counter (OTC) market, known as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB).

Iran, Belarus discuss transportation

MEHR – Iran and Belarus are expanding cooperation in the transportation sector.
The issue was discussed at the meeting between Belarus’ Transport and Communications Minister Aleksei Avramenko and Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industries, Mine and Trade Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi.

NPC says diplomacy can shore up petchem exports

IRAN PRESS – The Deputy Head of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) for International Affairs said that exploiting the potential of diplomacy could enhance the exports of petrochemical products. Hossein Alimorad said the capacities of international organizations including ECO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization could be tapped for the development of Iran’s petrochemical exports.
“Iran’s petrochemical industry is on the path of balanced development, and for this purpose, there are favorable capacities for the growth of exports, and the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be very effective in facilitating exports,” he noted.