Cargo transit through Iran up 20% y/y in March-September

Iranian transportation ministry (MRUD) says international cargo transit through the country has increased significantly in recent months thanks to an understanding with neighboring Turkmenistan and also because of restrictions imposed on Russia’s trade routes because of the war in Ukraine.

A senior official at MRUD’s road transportation department said on Wednesday that cargo transit through the Iranian road network had topped five million metric tons (mt) in the six months to September 22, up nearly 20% from the same period last year.

Javad Hedayati said the figure is equivalent to the entire volume of cargo transported via the Iranian road and rail networks in the calendar year to late March.

Hedayati added that cargo transit through Iranian roads reached 791,000 mt in the calendar month to late September.

He said the surge was mainly a result of increased activity on an Iranian shipping route that connects Turkey to Turkmenistan and other countries in Central Asia.

“Currently, some 100 trucks transport cargo between Turkey and Central Asia through Iran on a daily basis,” said the official.

He said Iran and Turkmenistan have reached an understanding under which Turkmenistan has eased transportation restrictions for trucks arriving or traveling to Iran.

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The official added that Turkmenistan has lifted a $1.5 per kilometer tax that it used to charge Iranian trucks for travelling in the country.

Hedayati said Iranian transit routes have also become more attractive for cargo delivery to and from Russia since early this year when Moscow came under Western sanctions because of the war in Ukraine.

He said that transportation of cargo containers via Iranian seaports to Russia have increased after Turkmenistan eased restrictions on international transportation earlier this year.

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