Arab News, Mon, May 27, 2024 | Dhu al-Qadah 19, 1445
DP World, Mawani launch $250m logistics park project at Jeddah Islamic Port
Saudi Arabia:
The Saudi logistics sector is poised for growth with DP World’s investment of
SR900 million ($250 million) to build a distribution center at the Jeddah
Islamic Port.
With this strategic move, the UAE multinational
logistics company will also enhance its operational capabilities, providing more
efficient and comprehensive services to its clients.
Sunday’s announcement signals the start of
construction on the quarter-billion-dollar project, which will be developed in
two phases and is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2025.
The park offers an in-land container depot with a
handling capacity of 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units and warehouse space of
100,000 sq. meters, said a press release.
Integrated with the recently awarded 30-year
concession for the South Container Terminal, the state-of-the-art facility will
bolster trade to enable Saudi Arabia’s strategy to become an economic powerhouse
by 2030.
In June 2022, DP World and the Saudi Ports
Authority, known as Mawani, signed a 30-year agreement, with an investment
exceeding SR500 million, to construct a cutting-edge, port-centric logistics
park in Jeddah.
The deal aims to develop the park, covering
415,000 sq. meters, featuring an in-land container depot capable of
accommodating around 250,000 TEU and warehousing storage space totaling 100,000
sq. meters. Potential expansions could raise the storage capacity to 200,000 sq.
meters.
The agreement was signed under the patronage of
Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh Al-Jasser, who is also
chairman of the board of Saudi Ports Authority,
According to a statement from the Dubai
government’s media office, the 415,000 sq. meter greenfield facility will
include 185,000 sq. meters of warehousing space and a vast multi-purpose storage
yard, establishing it as the largest integrated logistics park in the Kingdom.
The statement further mentioned that the park will
accommodate over 390,000 pallet positions, providing customers with an efficient
platform for the smooth movement of goods to and from Jeddah.
The collaboration between Mawani and DP World also
includes the management of the South Container Terminal through a separate
30-year concession signed in 2020, the media office said in its release.
It added that the terminal is currently in the
final phase of a comprehensive modernization project, scheduled for completion
in the last quarter of 2024. This project will ramp up the handling capacity to
5 million TEU.
“Saudi Arabia has always been a deeply
important market for DP World, and this milestone represents our ongoing
commitment to the Kingdom,” Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman and CEO of DP
World, said.
He added that Jeddah Logistics Park, strategically
located on the vital Asia-Europe shipping route, will provide world-class
multimodal connectivity and market access for customers while supporting the
ambitious aims of Saudi Vision 2030.
“This investment marks a significant step as we
mark 25 years of operations in Jeddah and underscores our enduring commitment to
facilitating the flow of trade,” Sulayem added.
On the other hand, Mawani President Omar bin Talal
Hariri highlighted that this new logistics area will be connected to DP World’s
South Container Terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port, facilitating growth and
increasing the number of containers handled at the terminal.
“The project is part of Mawani’s broader efforts
to expand the number of logistics centers in Saudi ports, in partnership with
major national and international companies, and in line with the objectives of
the National Transport and Logistics Strategy and Vision 2030,” Hariri said.