Ports in Saudi Arabia witnessed a 5.31 percent rise in container handling in October compared to last year. The Saudi Ports Authority, which supervises Saudi ports, reported handling 741,905 standard containers last month compared to 704,486 standard containers in the previous year.
This increase in handling confirms the success of the authority’s efforts in enhancing commercial movement and logistics services in the kingdom. This has enabled Saudi exports and imports to reach global markets and has increased the kingdom’s ability to compete globally.
Number of containers grows
The number of export containers during October 2023 increased by 9.72 percent, reaching 224,822 containers. This is compared to 204,903 export containers in October 2022. Meanwhile, the number of import containers also increased by 5.32 percent, reaching 226,973 containers. This compares to 215,503 import containers in October 2022.
In addition, transshipment containers recorded an increase of 2.12 percent, reaching 290,110 containers. In October 2022, the total number reached 284,080 containers. This reflects Saudi ports’ attractiveness for investments and contributes to increasing port handling volumes. It also confirms the strength of Saudi supply chains and trade movement, which aligns with the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. This growth also consolidates the kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub at the cross-section of three continents.
Saudi port traffic
General cargo amounted to 627,637 tons meanwhile, solid bulk cargo totaled 4,575,549 tons and liquid bulk cargo recorded 11,415,187 tons. Additionally, Saudi ports recorded an unloading rate of 791,683 livestock, an increase of 297.94 percent. This compares to 198,947 livestock unloaded in the same period in 2022.
Moreover, the authority’s ports received 59,810 passengers. This represents a 35.11 percent increase compared to October 2022, which recorded 44,268 passengers. While Saudi ports received 109,646 cars, an increase of 17.13 percent, compared to 93,611 cars in October last year. Furthermore, navigational traffic increased by 5.46 percent to about 1,062 ships, compared to 1,007 ships, in October 2022.
On the other hand, handled weight witnessed a decline of 5.90 percent to about 25 million tons of cargo. That is compared to about 26.5 million tons in October 2022.
Last month, food supplies also witnessed a 34.61 percent decrease, reaching about 1.6 tons. That is compared to about 2.5 tons in the same month of 2022.
Read: Saudi unveils ambitious plan for 60 logistics zones by 2030
Noticeable growth
It is worth noting that the kingdom continued enhancing its global position in the maritime transport and logistics services sector. It jumped 8 international positions in the number of handled containers, according to “Lloyd’s List 2023”. Saudi Arabia also achieved additional progress in the Maritime Connectivity Index in a report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
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