Saudi ports record 7.76% hike in container traffic in February 2023

RIYADH : The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has announced a 7.76% rise in container traffic at its trade hubs during February 2023, handling 622,837 TEUs compared to 577,993 TEUs in the previous year.

Detailed breakdown of the monthly container data reveal a 12.75% increase in exported containers from 172,208 TEUs in February 2022 to 194,157 TEUs this year, with imported containers up 5.95% year-on-year to 193,937 TEUs from 183,051 TEUs. Similarly, transshipments grew at a yearly pace of 5.39% from 222,734 TEUs to 234,743 TEUs.

On the other hand, cargo volumes slumped 3.13% to 23,089,455 tons from 23,835,826 tons in the prior period.

Under this category, dry bulk cargo soared 2.9% to 3,879,366 tons in contrast to last year’s 3,770,196 tons while general cargo jumped 77.2% to 639,843 tons from 361,086 tons in the year before. Liquid bulk, however, returned negative figures with volumes sliding 13.16% from 13,556,831 tons in February 2022 to 11,772,089 tons last month.

Furthermore, the ports’ food throughput totaled 1,646,900 tons after a 2.18% tumble from last year’s tally of 1,683,595 tons. On the contrary, livestock volumes gained 218.37% with 337,231 cattle heads being imported against 105,923 in the preceding year. Likewise, around 81,600 automobiles entered the Kingdom through Mawani’s ports at a 33.99% surge relative to last year’s aggregate of 60,898 units.

February saw as many as 883 vessels berth across Saudi ports, which represents a 4.87% uptick from 842 vessels during the same period last year. Passenger numbers, too, followed a similar trend with a 61.16% spike in arrivals at 100,903 pax in comparison to 62,611 pax in 2022.

The national maritime regulator aims to continually upgrade the throughput capacity of Saudi ports through bi-ticket investments and high-impact partnerships in its bid to transform the Kingdom into a global logistics hub of choice.