Container traffic at Saudi Ports rises 4.79% in August 2023
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 tons with a total of 24,118,698 tons this August, thanks to 609,007 tons of general cargo, 3,865,565 tons of dry bulk cargo, and 11,689,841 tons of liquid bulk cargo. Food commodities also mirrored a similar trend by registering a sizable 29.48% fall to 1,570,665 tons from 2,227,104 tons 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.
