Saudi ports quarterly box volume rises 14pc to 1.1 million TEU

SAUDI ports volume for the first quarter of the year showed an overall cargo increase of 3.4 per cent year on year to 33.5 million tonnes, with containers up 14 per cent to 1.15 million TEU.
Exports at the country`s ports dropped 8.4 per cent while imports were up 24.7 per cent. Transshipments in the first quarter rose to 369,735 TEU, a 19 per cent increase year on year, according to the Saudi Ports Authority (SPA).
Jeddah had the most container traffic taking 70 per cent of the country`s container throughput helped by its third box terminal of the Red Sea Gateway Terminal opening end of 2009.
King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam was up 9.3 per cent and King Fahd Industrial Ports in Jubail increased volume by 63 per cent to 26,924 TEU against the 16,501 TEU volume attained in the same period last year.
Imports grew in the areas of consumer durables, food products, construction goods and capital equipment.
SPA is forecasting a 10-12 per cent increase in 2010 volumes after last year`s decline of 8.8 per cent.