Maersk Saudi Arabia, an integrator of container logistics, announced in a statement that it has entered into a strategic partnership with King Abdullah Port, Saudi Arabia to establish a petrochemical logistics center in Saudi Arabia.
As part of the partnership, both the entities signed a deal to set up Maersk Integrated Logistics Hub, a non-bonded warehouse, to provide comprehensive logistics services and benefit local petrochemical exporters.
Maersk is initially investing in 100,000 sq. mt. of warehousing space during the first two years of operations at the hub, to cater to the annual throughput that will reach 1 million metric tons by third year as demand from exporters grows over the years.
The agreement was signed by Mohammad Shihab, Managing Director of Maersk Saudi Arabia, and Jay New, CEO of King Abdullah Port, in a ceremony held at King Abdullah Port. The signing ceremony was attended virtually by Richard Morgan, Regional Managing Director for Maersk West & Central Asia.
The Maersk Integrated Logistics Hub at King Abdullah Port will cover an important logistical requirement of exporters who already have access to Maersk’s solutions such as landside movement of cargo, customs clearance, and ocean logistics, thus ensuring a truly integrated logistics offering.
The hub will serve as the focal supply chain solution, primarily for Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical exporters, through the large space allocated for handling and storing cargo. It will play an important role in facilitating the storage of export cargo and enable pallet handling, stuffing and shuttling.
Located within a two-kilometre radius from the terminal yard and directly adjacent to the customs inspection zone, this hub’s strategic location will greatly benefit the exporters by saving time.
Furthermore, most of the exporters based out of the manufacturing hub of Yanbu have had to truck their cargo almost 350 km to Jeddah for loading onto vessels.
With the Maersk Integrated Logistics Hub at King Abdullah Port, this distance has been drastically reduced to 200 km. Exporters currently require 14 to 18 days from receiving the booking to loading the material on the vessel.
With the new hub, this process will now take only 6 to 8 days, given material availability, thus reducing the turnaround time, increasing efficiency, and improving competitive advantage through reduced logistics costs. The reduction in trucking will also positively contributing towards environmental sustainability through reduced emissions.
