IN Brief:
- Saudi Global Ports has started operating Jubail Container Terminal under a 30-year agreement with Mawani.
- More than SAR 2 billion is tied to upgrades in berth depth, quay length, and crane capacity.
- The works raise annual handling capacity from 1.5 million to 2.4 million TEU.
Saudi Global Ports Group has begun operations at the Jubail Container Terminal under a 30-year privatisation agreement with the Saudi Ports Authority, Mawani, bringing one of the Kingdom’s key eastern trade gateways into its wider port and logistics network. The move extends SGP’s operational footprint at a site that sits close to major industrial activity and plays an important role in handling exports, imports, and industrial cargo flows.
The concession is backed by investment of more than SAR 2 billion and includes a substantial package of infrastructure and equipment upgrades. Quay length has been extended from 1,000 metres to 1,400 metres, berth depth has increased from 14 metres to 18 metres, ship-to-shore crane numbers have risen from six to 10, and rubber-tyred gantry cranes have increased from 13 to 29, including automated and environmentally friendly units. Across a site area of 460,000 square metres, those works lift annual handling capacity from 1.5 million TEU to 2.4 million TEU.
The port is positioned to handle next-generation container vessels and to tighten operational links across SGP’s eastern coast portfolio, including associated inland logistics facilities. Saleh Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and Chairman of Mawani, said the launch reflected deeper partnership with the private sector and supported the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. The scale of the physical upgrade matters because Jubail is not simply another container stop on the Gulf coast; it is a logistics node serving nearby industrial cities and export-oriented manufacturing activity.
For operators and cargo owners, the significance lies in the combination of extra berth capacity, larger cranes, deeper water, and closer integration with regional port assets. SGP has said the terminal’s addition to its network should improve operational alignment, raise capacity utilisation, and support more flexible cargo flows across the eastern corridor. That gives Jubail a stronger role in the Kingdom’s industrial logistics system at a time when Saudi Arabia is still pressing ahead with port, terminal, and inland network upgrades aimed at capturing more regional and intercontinental trade.
