King Abdullah Economic City, August 2021: Strengthening its position as one of the fastest-growing ports in the world and the leading port in the Middle East region, King Abdullah Port has been ranked among the top 100 container ports in the world, according to the 2021 edition of the prestigious Lloyd’s List One Hundred Ports published recently. The port’s remarkable performance in 2020 despite the pandemic-related challenges enabled it to improve its ranking by three positions to reach the 84th position, thereby firmly establishing itself in the global list.
Commenting on the feat, Jay New, the Chief Executive Officer of King Abdullah Port, said: “We are proud of King Abdullah Port’s growing reputation as an internationally recognized port with state-of-the-art infrastructure and efficient operations. The port’s consistently high performance in various global rankings and its unmatched service excellence have been driving its growth and resilience, enhancing our contributions to realizing the Vision 2030 objectives. This achievement inspires us to continue delivering on our commitment to transform the Kingdom into a top global hub connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa, besides supporting the diversification of the national economy by facilitating the growth of non-oil exports.”
The improved ranking in the global list reflects King Abdullah Port’s continually improving infrastructure and facilities as well as its prompt and effective response strategy to mitigate the impact of the global pandemic. The accomplishment also acknowledges the efforts of King Abdullah Port to become the largest in the Middle East with the capacity to handle 25 million TEU annually.
The port recorded a 6.6% increase in container throughput in 2020, reaching 2,153,963 TEU compared to 2,020,683 TEU in 2019, and achieved a remarkable 16% increase in the number of imported containers compared to the previous year. As for bulk and general cargo, the port registered a 12.4% increase in 2020, reaching 3,329,380 tons, compared to 2,962,867 tons in 2019. It continues to perform exceptionally well in 2021, substantially raising its throughput to be ranked first in increase among the regional ports during the first quarter, reaching 693,700 TEU, up 44.2% from 481,100 TEU recorded in Q1 2020. The port also achieved a new record for the monthly volume of breakbulk cargo by handling over 600,000 tons in April 2021.
King Abdullah Port’s stellar performance in 2020 has helped it to improve its rankings in various esteemed global lists and indices. Recently, it ranked 83rd in the prestigious Alphaliner’s global list of the 100 largest container ports, jumping up four spots from its previous rank.
Owned by the Ports Development Company, King Abdullah Port is the region’s first port to be owned, developed, and operated by the private sector. Ranked as the world’s second most efficient port by The World Bank in 2020, the port emerged as one of the world’s top 100 ports within four years of operation. With its strategic location in King Abdullah Economic City – a modern city with a pro-business ecosystem and infrastructure – King Abdullah Port leverages the city’s advanced facilities and services, particularly the Industrial Valley, which has attracted many logistics projects as well as light and medium industries.
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About King Abdullah Port
Strategically located on the Red Sea coast in King Abdullah Economic City, King Abdullah Port, ranked by The World Bank as the world’s second most efficient port in 2020, is the Middle East’s first privately owned, developed and operated port. Occupying an area of 17.4 km2, and enjoying close proximity to the key Saudi cities of Jeddah, Holy Makkah, Al Madinah and Yanbu, as well as its direct access to extensive transportation networks that facilitates the cargo transport through the kingdom and the rest of the region, the port is making an increasingly important contribution to the Kingdom’s global role in maritime trade and logistics. Once fully completed, King Abdullah Port will be capable of handling 25 million TEU, 1.5 million CEU and 25 million tons of clean bulk cargo annually.
With state-of-the-art infrastructure and processing facilities, the world’s deepest 18-m berths, multi-level expanding operations, in addition to a fully-integrated Port Community System, the Smart Gate system and multipurpose bonded and re-export zones, King Abdullah Port reflects the important role of the private sector in realizing Vision 2030.
