The Iranian Conundrum: How sanctions removal affects global logistics

Finding a partner in Iran

Far from being left alone, however, Iran is hearing from many forwarders that want to provide a piece of the country’s logistics. But even for those companies that have had long-established trade ties with Iran, using an intermediary is still the preferred method of doing business.

For instance, since 2008, DB Schenker has been an exclusive partner of Tehran-based agent Meshkin Co., Ltd., one of its 65 “network partner”affiliates. By working with Meshkin, Schenker has been able to maneuver around bureaucratic and cultural obstacles surrounding Iran’s automotive industry, which is one of Schenker’s specialties. “This is a transactional business,” he said. “It would be much, much more difficult to deal with a huge, new set of regulations in each different country. But for the last five years there has been a gap,” in dealing with the agency during the sanctions period, Dietmar added. “They will have to catch up.”

Similarly, Panalpina has worked for several years inside Iran via agent Chain International Transport, which has offices in all of the country’s strategic locations. “Today, we clearly benefit from the long-standing business relationship with our Iranian agent Chain,” Triebel said. “We’ve maintained and continued this relationship over two decades, knowing that the situation will change at some point. Chain itself was not affected by the sanctions or political situation in the country.”

While the relationship with Chain has been good, the cargo volumes have been down in recent years, Triebel said. “They will recover gradually,” now that the sanctions have lifted, he said. “In regards to the domestic logistics offering, Chain has always maintained and invested in developing capable staff and is very much ready to cope with increased demand.”