The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was ranked sixteenth in annual container throughput by the 2023 edition of the Lloyd’s List One Hundred Ports, steadily improving on the 24th position it occupied last year.
HE Saleh Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and Chairman of the Saudi Posts Authority (Mawani), said the Kingdom’s remarkable leap is a direct result of the continuous support and empowerment from HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in the pursuit of fulfilling the ambitions of Vision 2030 that aim to transform the nation into a logistics leader on the global front and an engine for socioeconomic growth through capacity upgrades of up to 40 million TEUs.
As per the industry report, container volumes across the Kingdom’s ports during 2022 were estimated at 10,439,620 TEUs in a clear signal of its growing role as an enabler of international trade and driver of progress and prosperity.
The Kingdom’s groundbreaking strides in the global logistics landscape boils down to a host of critical catalysts, ranging from the addition of nine cargo services to the signing of agreements worth over 4 billion riyals with major partners to build six state-of-the-art logistics parks over the course of 2022, as well as awarding concessions valued at 17 billion riyals to operate and optimise container terminals, which include a 70% expansion in Jeddah Islamic Port’s capacity to 13 million TEUs in addition to a 120% increase in King Abdulaziz Port’s capacity to 7.5 million TEUs.
The latest success maintains Saudi Arabia’s successful track record this year across key global indices, including the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI), where it registered a 17-place jump to the 38th spot among 160 countries, besides the UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) for Q2 2023, where it came 16th among 187 countries with a score of 76.16 points thanks to 97 maritime links to 348 destinations around the world.
