Saudi Ports container traffic up 18.8% in May 2023
Container volumes during May hit their highest monthly levels since 2020 according to statistics released by the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), registering 709,944 TEUs at an 18.8% annual surge from 597,617 TEUs, according to Mawani's release.
Data coming out of Mawani’s ports across other container categories further show a 28.18% increase in exports to 224,718 from 175,315 TEUs in 2022, with imports jumping 35.98% from 173,822 TEUs to 236,358 TEUs in 2023. Transshipments, similarly, inched up by a marginal 0.15% to 248,866 TEUs this year as opposed to 248,481 TEUs in the prior period.
On the other hand, overall cargo throughput was 6.12% lower in the previous month at 25,563,869 tons compared to 27,231,231 tons in the preceding year. Volumes handled across different cargo types include 719,840 tons of general cargo, 4,133,029 tons of dry bulk cargo, and 13,300,121 tons of liquid bulk cargo.
Livestock trade during May totaled 574,550 cattle heads, up 24.99% year-on-year from 459,677 cattle heads. On the contrary, food commodities saw a 2.8% slump to 1,678,711 tons from 1,727,076 tons in May 2022. Automobiles also followed a similar pattern last month with a 0.13% fall in numbers from last year’s 79,408 units to 79,304 units.
The Kingdom’s shores welcomed around 1,064 vessels throughout May, an 18.75% spike from 896 ships a year earlier. Passenger traffic, however, recorded the month’s best growth figures with a 92.39% leap from 45,513 pax to 87,561 pax.
With digital-first initiatives and continuing upgrades aimed at transforming a key national industry into a high-performance logistics hub, Mawani is all set to boost the Kingdom’s efforts in enabling a sustainable and seamless supply chain worldwide as envisioned by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS).
