Last week Antwerp Port Authority signed a
collaboration agreement with Shahid Rajaee Port Authority which controls the
port of Bandar Abbas in Iran. Bandar Abbas accounts for 90% of the in- and
outgoing containers of Iran and for nearly half of the 200 mln tons of freight
handled by the 11 Iranian ports put together.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the headquarters
of the Ports & Maritime Organisation in Teheran which is responsible for
managing these 11 ports. The agreement runs for a period of five years, after
which it can be renewed.
Under the terms of the MoU the respective port authorities of
Antwerp and Bandar Abbas will join forces so that companies in both ports can
collaborate closely once more and develop trade between the two regions. This
will involve among other things exchanging information on statistics and port
development projects, as well as collaboration in the field of training. With
its training subsidiary APEC the port of Antwerp has its own institute
specialised in giving all sorts of tailor-made training courses.
In order to bring a number of Antwerp companies in contact with
the Iranian market, Antwerp Port Authority organised a port seminar immediately
after the signing of the MoU, emphasising the advantages of the port of
Antwerp. In addition to the usual freight categories of containers, dry bulk
and breakbulk the seminar focused on the petrochemical cluster in Antwerp, the
largest in Europe. The liquid bulk sector for its part accounted for 67 mln
tons out of the total of more than 208 mln tons of freight handled in Antwerp
last year. Thanks to the high degree of integration in its petrochemical
cluster and its efficient supply chain, Antwerp has benefited from a number of
important industrial investments in the past few years that have further
boosted the position of the cluster. The port of Bandar Abbas for its part
plays an important role within its region for the supply and handling of liquid
bulk and crude oil. Other local specialities are handling of steel products and
dry bulk such as grain.
Source: Port of Antwerp
Steel Track Inc.