In the meeting of the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, while addressing the issues related to returning foreign currency earnings from steel and bitumen exports, it was suggested that the Chamber and Export Commission’s capacity be utilized to provide services to traders.

In the latest meeting of Iran’s Export Commission, the President of Iran’s Export Confederation referred to the recent meeting between the board of directors of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran and added: “The Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade (MIIMT) has set out goals and outlined a roadmap in its export support package.”

He continued: “The MIIMT has set a minimum export target of $47 billion for this year, of which about $12 billion is expected to come from private sector exporters who neither use cheap energy nor have the special conditions of public or semi-public companies.”

Lahouti noted that, according to the Central Bank statistics, 30% of imports in the general export sector, such as agriculture and industry, mostly by small and medium-sized enterprises comes from their own exports. Therefore, this group effectively needs to supply $8.5 to $9 billion, and given the NIMA exchange rate, they are practically unable to supply. Thus, it was suggested to the Central Bank governor that an import basket equivalent to this amount be defined, allowing only imports from export foreign currency and facilitating foreign currency obligations by transferring foreign currency and export permits to importers.

He said: “Although the method of transferring export permits is stipulated in the law, it has unfortunately faced serious disruptions for various reasons.”

Lahouti stated: “From the beginning of 1403 [March 20, 2024 to March 20, 2025], the entire steel chain is obliged to sell its foreign currency in the NIMA system. However, since their raw materials are priced higher than the NIMA rate on the stock exchange, exporters believe the export trend will decrease.”

He continued: “Bitumen exporters have also been required to sell their foreign currency in the NIMA system since November 6, 2023. They face the same issue, and their problems have become more apparent as several months have passed since this decision.”

The Chairman of the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce mentioned that in the latest meeting of returning foreign currency committee, an order was issued to address the issue and hold another meeting on the matter. He added: “However, to date, no meeting has been set to solve the bitumen exporters’ problems. Meetings have been held regarding the issues of steel exporters, but no specific decision has been reached yet.”

Shipping services not properly communicated to exporters

In another part of his speech, Lahouti referred to the special conditions that Iranian shipping has considered for exporters. He said: “The officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRLSL) were interested in having these services communicated through the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce. Exporters involved in maritime transportation face serious problems in both refrigerated and non-refrigerated container exports.”

The Chairman of the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce added: “Maritime transport officials have solutions and suggestions for these problems. However, it seems that exporters lack information about shipping services, and there has not been adequate communication on this matter.”

Lahouti suggested to the Iranian shipping officials to use the capacity of the Chamber and the Export Commission to provide services to traders.

Iran’s Chamber ready to participate in maritime transport Infrastructure renovation

Sadroddin Niavarani, Vice-Chairman of the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, stated that the IRISL only has 200 refrigerated containers for transporting perishable goods, which constitute over 50% of our imports and exports. He noted: “Some of these containers are also worn out and unusable. Therefore, our main request as exporters is to strengthen the infrastructure.”

He criticized some regulations and decisions that increase export costs for exporters, and said: “What facilities the IRISL has in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr to reduce exporter costs. Unfortunately, there are not many facilities, even though we are supposed to become a regional transit port and handle the cargo of at least 400 million people.”

The Vice-Chairman of the Export Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce stated that Iran’s Chamber is ready to participate in the construction of suitable docks in ports. He added: “We are prepared to identify and address logistics facility renovation issues through joint meetings.”

Door-to-Door shipping services provided for exporters

In continuation, Bayat, the market development deputy manager of the IRISL Group, outlined the capabilities and services of the IRISL. He said: “Door-to-Door shipping is one of our important services to exporters. Thus, by establishing a center within the IRISL, we can transport goods from the factory door to a destination in another country and vice versa. This service is provided without traders having to deal with customs clearance processes at ports.”

He added: “New routes have been launched for travel to various parts of the African continent, with our ships traveling this route every 25 days.”

According to Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Bayat said that sanctions have not been able to halt Iranian shipping: “With proper organization, our ships continue to operate on schedule on various routes.”

He mentioned the issue of long ship delays in Russian ports and noted: “With our actions, we have significantly increased efficiency to activate the North-South corridor.”

Bayat noted that one of our problems in shipping is requests from traders that are not executed in practice. He said: “Based on traders’ requests, we plan some of our routes, but the ships remain empty, causing losses.”

He suggested: “Traders requesting services on different routes should communicate their requests, including the origin, destination and schedule, to the market development deputy manager of the IRISL for better planning.”

IRISL offers discount packages for wide range of export products

Mohammad Reza Ahmadizadeh, CEO of the Shipping Container Company of the IRISL, stated: “Despite limitations, the IRISL has maintained its routes with various destinations. In Farvardin [March 20 to April 19, 2024] this year, compared to the same period last year, there was a 38% growth in exporting shipments, excluding petrochemical products.”

He referred to the shipping services to exporters aimed at enhancing their competitiveness, and added: “The IRISL offers discount packages based on the HS code for export goods with low prices, such as building materials, ceramics, and a wide range of export products, to facilitate competition with foreign rivals.”

Stating that compared to last year, there was a 43% growth in exporting goods to China, he added: “The shipping cost for our 40-foot containers on the China route is almost free.”

Ahmadizadeh continued: “Another service we provide to exporters is insurance, which the IRISL offers free of charge for export products. Each 20-foot export container is insured for $10,000, and each 40-foot container for $20,000. If the value of their exported goods is higher, traders can pay the difference.”

Ahmadizadeh also announced the purchase of over 400 refrigerated containers of various types, and said: “We are leading in updating and renovating our fleet, doing so to the best of our ability.”

At the end of the meeting, Lahouti stated: “The requests and suggestions from each association representative and commission member would be formally communicated to the IRISL.”