SIMIC

Transshipment volumes were up 4.2 per cent to 244,600 TEU, compared to the June 2021 total of 234,700 TEU, reports UK's Seatrade Maritime News, citing statistics from the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).

Saudi ports saw a 13.6 per cent increase in vessel calls in June, with a total of 1,126 vessels, while vehicle imports increased by 26 per cent to 74,000. Total food volumes reached 1.6 million tonnes..

"The development plans launched by Mawani to enhance the operational efficiency and upgrade ports' capabilities resulted in a 56 per cent increase in general cargo volumes to reach 791,000 tonnes, whereas liquid bulk cargoes increased 32 per cent to reach 15.5 million tonnes," Mawani said.

King Abdulaziz Port, Dammam, managed and operated by Saudi Global Ports (SGP), set a monthly container throughput record, handling 188,578 TEU in June, beating the previous record set in 2015.

"The record-breaking performance comes on the back of soaring import and export volumes, which boosted the port's productivity while reaffirming its unique operational and logistical prowess in line with the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) to raise logistical output and boost container throughput in Saudi ports," Mawani said.

Total throughput at Dammam Port was 1.77 million TEU in 2021, a significant increase on the 2018 figure of 1.54 million TEU. However, transshipment volumes were just under 5,000 TEU in 2020, rising to almost 12,000 TEU in 2021.