RIYADH — The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has recorded a remarkable rise in general cargo volumes during February 2022, logging in excess of 24.4 million tons at a YOY growth rate of 17.5%. Transshipments, too, gained 3.41% compared to the same period last year with volumes exceeding 421,000 containers.

Mawani's statistics for February reveal an upward trajectory across various performance indicators including a 1.36% uptick in container throughput to register more than 803,000 TEUs.

The same period saw more than 70,000 cars being imported, up by 37.76% from 2021. Passenger traffic surpassed 72,000 with a 53.15% surge whereas vessel traffic at Saudi ports topped 1029, a jump of 6.3% from last year.

On the contrary and owing to the global supply chain crisis, foodstuff volumes declined by 2.05% to reach 1.6 million tons while livestock imports totaled 106,000 head, a YOY drop of 62.98%.

The strong results put Mawani on course to transform the maritime sector into a prosperous and sustainable ecosystem according to its developmental mandate, thus fulfilling the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) and Vision 2030 to establish Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub and realize the nation's socioeconomic ambitions. — SPA