RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s seaports saw a significant increase in May 2025, managing 720,684 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 13% rise compared to the same month last year, as reported by the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani). This increase was a result of higher volumes in imports, exports, and transhipment activities.
Imported containers increased by 15.84% to 292,223 TEUs, whereas exported containers rose by 9.38% to 279,318 TEUs. Transhipment volumes also increased by 12.89%, reaching 149,143 TEUs. These data highlight Saudi Arabia’s expanding role as a regional trade hub and indicate continued investments in port infrastructure and logistics services.
The total cargo tonnage managed, which includes general cargo, solid bulk, and liquid bulk increased by 1.40% to 21,337,699 tonnes. In particular, general cargo was 935,932 tonnes, solid bulk cargo totalled 5,059,899 tonnes and liquid bulk cargo reached 15,341,868 tonnes.
Other key data also indicated strong performance. The ports handled 1.63 million livestock, marking a 61.22% rise compared to the previous year. Vessel calls rose by 9.39% to 1,083 ships, the number of passengers grew by 68.15 to 95,231 and vehicles managed increased by 13.09% to 84,352 units.
This positive trend comes after a strong April growth, supporting Saudi Arabia’s National Transport and Logistics Strategy under Vision 2030. Mawani introduced major projects in 2024 which included 8 new logistics parks with SR 2.9 billion in private investment, as part of a broader SR 10 billion initiative to build 18 logistics parks, boosting the kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub.
