Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has added 20 cargo services to the ports of Jeddah, Dammam, and Jubail during the first half of 2023, a development that inspired the Kingdom’s latest score of 76.16 points in the Q2 2023 update of the UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) – a 4.83-point rise from 2022.
Efforts to transform national ports into leading investment destinations gained further steam following deals with consumer tech retailer United Electronics Company (eXtra), to build a 32,000 sq. m. logistics park at King Abdulaziz Port at a cost of 35 million riyals, as well as Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to set up a logistics park spanning 3 sqkm at Al Khumrah against an outlay of 1 billion riyals, Mawani said.
Around 13 partnerships were struck during the first half period with select public and private sector entities, including an agreement with Alba Nova International and Taraf Alagar Co. Ltd. to construct a state-of-the-art bunker station at Yanbu’s King Fahad Industrial Port in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy.
The Kingdom’s rapid development boom was reflected in the kickoff of two major logistics projects in record time, including the groundbreaking for Maersk’s 1.3-billion-riyal, 225,000 sqm logistics park and the launch of LogiPoint’s 72,000 sqm logistics facility worth 150 million riyals.
On the sustainability front, the national maritime regulator introduced measures to achieve a 1,046-ton drop in annual carbon footprint at Jeddah Islamic Port by reducing crane activity and truck turnaround times in a bid to meet the Green Ports Initiative’s target of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent.
Mawani has carried out 787 inspection visits to shipping agents and shipchandlers until June-end.
Transshipments gained 12.19 percent over the prior year’s volume of 1,391,221 TEUs to reach 1,560,790 TEUs in H1 2023.
Meanwhile, automobile imports spiked 26.08 percent to 496,949 units from 394,151 units last year, whereas food commodities climbed 9.82 percent from 9,866,753 tons to 10,835,620 tons in the current year.
Moreover, 5,918 vessels called at Mawani’s ports during this year’s first half, up 10.68 percent year-on-year from 5,347 ships.
Likewise, passenger traffic for the same period totaled 568,933 pax, a 60.83 percent jump from 353,758 pax in 2022. Livestock trade, on the other hand, logged an impressive 95.79 percent yearly surge from 2,232,987 to 4,372,027 cattle heads in 2023.
Finally, the first six months saw a new record being set for the highest monthly container throughput, when 709,944 TEUs were processed in May at an 18.8 percent annual growth rate as opposed to 597,617 TEUs in the past year.