Containerized cargo across Saudi ports have maintained their upward swing during the month of November, growing by 8.3% to 631,165 TEUs from 582,783 TEUs last year. The results come amid active steps taken by the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) to developthe national maritime sector, optimize and automate its operations, streamline processes, boost value-driven partnerships with the private sector, build logistics parks,upgrade customer experience,and expand shipping servicesin line with the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS). The detailed breakdown of container datareveal a 10.57% jump in exported boxes at 183,023 TEUs, compared to 165,520 TEUs in 2021. Similarly, imported containers for last month stood at 189,029 TEUs, a 12.66% surge relative to last year's 167,786 TEUs. Transshipments, too, edged up by 3.86% to 259,108 TEUs against the previous year's tally of 249,477 TEUs. On the other hand, non-containerized cargo saw a 5.32% drop to 25,629,112 tons this year from 27,070,024 tons in November 2021. Generalcargo throughput witnessed a massive jump of 97.06% from 513,959 tons during the preceding period to 1,012,830 tons in the current year. Likewise, dry bulk cargo increased by 6.79% to 4,487,183 tons in comparison to 4,202,866 tons previously while liquid bulk cargo plummeted 14.46% to 13,708,604 tons from 16,025,826 tons in 2021. Furthermore, Saudi ports received 1,258 vessels in November, 11.92% higher than last year's total of 1,124 vessels. With a 44.85% leap, vehicle throughput for the same period equaled 83,352 units versus 57,543 units last year. Food volumes touched 1,864,400 tons, up 18.66% year-on-year from 1,571,179 tons whereas livestock imports hit the 291,169 mark, a 29.52% spike as opposed to last year. Meanwhile, passenger traffic rose 24.35% to 73,627 pax. contrary to 59,210 pax in 2021.
