Saudi Arabia’s ports record 13% year-on-year rise in cargo handled in 2022

Saudi Arabia’s maritime trade hubs have witnessed a yearly increase of 13 per cent in cargo throughput during 2022.

The hubs handled approximately 237 million tonnes compared to 210 million tonnes in the preceding year, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA)

The annual results follow the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) drive as well as targets set by National Transport and Logistics Strategy to transform the nation’s ports into an operationally-efficient and robustly-regulated industry thriving on streamlined processes, high-impact partnerships, world-class infrastructure, global connectivity, digital transformation, and top-tier customer experience.

The year-end statistics for 2022 highlight a 3.2 per cent surge in container volumes at 10.355 billion TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) in contrast to 10.035 billion TEUs a year earlier. The sub-categories reflected a 5 per cent boom in imported and exported boxes to 4.839 billion TEUs from 4.628 billion TEUs in the previous period.

Similarly, trans-shipments inched up by 2 per cent to touch 5.516 billion tonnes in comparison to 2021’s tally of 5.406 billion TEUs, reported SPA.

On the commodities front, Saudi ports unloaded around 3.93 billion cattle heads across 2022, up 9 per cent year-on-year over the prior year’s total of 3.62 billion. Likewise, 973,000 cars rolled off incoming vessels at a 25 per cent growth rate versus 778,000 units previously.

The kingdom’s trade gateways also welcomed 933,000 passengers over the course of 2022, a 36 per cent rise from 2021 when 688,000 passengers arrived in the country.