Aktau opens sea cargo link with Iran

The port of Aktau and the ports of Iran will launch container shipments in 2019, according to Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Railways Maksat Kabashev.

He also stressed that without regular container shipments the total cargo turnover between the port of Aktau and the ports of Iran from January to May 2018 amounted to 568,605 tons.

Kazakhstan Railways also plans to purchase 5,000 containers in 2018.

Iran had one of the key positions in the geography of markets for export of Kazakh grain and flour in 2017 (2 million tons), along with Uzbekistan (2 million tons), Tajikistan (1 million tons) and Afghanistan (2.1 million tons), according to Kazakhstan Railways.

Shipments in the direction of these countries in grain equivalent increased by 364,000 tons in 2017. Transportation of goods to Iran increased by 26 percent in the mentioned period. The main increase in transportation volumes occurred in November-December 2017.

Iran becomes a noticeable foreign policy factor affecting the transport networks of Kazakhstan and the whole of Central Asia. In the medium term, Kazakh companies expect an expansion of Iran's regional role and increase of their cargo flows to the Islamic Republic.

In particular, Iran is trying to direct the transit of goods from Central Asia through its territory to the ports of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar, and turn them into a transport and logistics hub.

Source