The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has reported an increase of 17.57% in container processing at its trade hubs during Q1 2023, scoring a throughput of 2,011,162 TEUs compared to 1,710,608 TEUs last year.
Quarterly container statistics further show a 16.08% spike in exported TEUs, attaining a total of 559,829 against the backdrop of last year's Q1 volume of 513,273.
Imported containers, however, performed better with a year-on-year rise of 22.43% from 520,509 TEUs to 637,277 TEUs. Meanwhile, transshipments received a 14.96% boost to volumes last quarter, growing from 676,826 TEUs to 778,056 TEUs.
Container Volumes at Saudi Ports Up 7.76% in February
Q1 numbers in the cargo category also trended upwards, soaring to 4.11% at 75,552,598 tonnes in contrast to 72,570,201 tonnes in the year before.
The first three months saw a total of 1,597,014 tonnes of general cargo, 12,503,063 tonnes of dry bulk cargo, and 39,822,296 tonnes of liquid bulk cargo going through Mawani's ports.
Up 14.97% from Q1 2022’s tally of 5,031,957 tonnes, food throughput across the Saudi ports network hit a volume of 5,785,004 tonnes. On the other hand, livestock imports jumped an enormous 300.48% from 336,581 to 1,347,949 cattle heads this year.
Similarly, automobile shipments shot up by 35.52% to 258,051 vehicles from 190,422 units a year earlier.
An almost identical growth was registered in passenger volumes during this year's first quarter with 304,610 pax disembarking into the Kingdom, an uptick of 34.29% from 226,838 pax during the same period last year.
Inbound vessels, too, recorded an 11.48% surge relative to last year's numbers with 2,855 ships entering Saudi waters versus 2,561 in the preceding year.
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Read More: Saudi Ports Log 21.14% Growth in March Container Throughput