BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. Iran’s non-oil trade (including exports, imports, and transit) via the Astara railway terminal in Gilan Province in the north of the country increased by 44 percent in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21 through September 22, 2023), compared to the same period last year, Director General of Iran's Northern Railway Department Gholam Hossein Valadi said, Trend reports.
The director general noted that Iran traded over 322,000 tons of non-oil products through the Astara railway terminal within 6 months.
Valadi also added that in the corresponding period last year, Iran’s non-oil trade via this railway terminal stood at nearly 224,000 tons.
Meanwhile, Iran’s total non-oil trade turnover for the first half of this year was $54.6 billion, involving 85.3 million tons of goods. This was an increase of 4.84 percent in value and 23.7 percent in volume compared to the same period last year.
Iran's Astara railway terminal is located near the border with Azerbaijan. The terminal is located in Iran’s Astara city on an area of 35 hectares, 1.4 km from the Azerbaijan-Iran border.
According to the intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan and Iran, the construction of the terminal began in 2017. The Astara railway terminal, built by Azerbaijan Railways, has been leased to Azerbaijan for 25 years.
Despite the ongoing construction of the Astara terminal, several parts of the terminal have already been ready for operation, and since the beginning of 2018, transshipment operations have been carried out there.
