August Container Traffic Rises 4.79% at Saudi Ports

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has recorded a 4.79% increase in container volumes during August, handling 721,629 TEUs at its trade hubs this year in comparison to 688,667 TEUs twelve months earlier.

Monthly statistics further illustrate a 5.98% surge in exported containers from 205,740 TEUs to 218,051 TEUs in the current year, a minor uptick of 1.91% in imported containers to 226,738 TEUs from 222,480 TEUs in the previous year, as well as a 6.29% annual spike in transshipments from 260,447 TEUs to 276,840 TEUs.

Cargo throughput, on the contrary, recorded a downward drift of 17.2% against last year’s tally of 29,128,327 tonnes with a total of 24,118,698 tonnes this August, thanks to 609,007 tonnes of general cargo, 3,865,565 tons of dry bulk cargo, and 11,689,841 tonnes of liquid bulk cargo.

Food commodities also mirrored a similar trend by registering a sizable 29.48% fall to 1,570,665 tonnes from 2,227,104 tonnes in the prior year.

At 1,026 ships, maritime traffic across Mawani’s ports witnessed an 8% growth over August 2022’s levels of 950 vessels, which coincided with a 38.09% jump in passenger numbers from 54,017 pax to 74,591 pax in August 2023.

Similarly, automobile imports during the preceding month hit 74,374 units, a year-on-year gain of 2.61% versus 72,482 units, with livestock trade amounting to 557,849 cattle heads, a staggering upswing of 273.82% in contrast to 149,230 cattle heads a year earlier.

Guided by the ambitions of Vision 2030, the national maritime regulator has heavily invested in sharpening its operational edge through a combination of world class partnerships and best-in-class standards and technologies.

These have played a defining role in the Kingdom’s recent ascent to the 16th position in the 2023 edition of the Lloyd’s List 100 Ports on account of its yearly throughput figures.