DP World and the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) announced in a statement that the companies has signed a 30-year agreement to build a state-of-the-art, port-centric Logistics Park at the Jeddah Islamic Port.
The agreement, with an investment value of more than AED490 million ($133.4 million), aims to establish a 415,000 square-metre logistics park with an in-land container depot capacity of 250,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and a warehousing storage space of 100,000 square metres. Future expansions could increase the storage space to 200,000 square metres.
The agreement was signed under the patronage of Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistic Services and Chairman of Mawani.
The signing ceremony was attended by Omar Bin Talal Hariri, President of Mawani; Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World; Mohammad Alshaikh, CEO DP World Saudi Arabia; and a delegation of senior Saudi government officials as well as representatives from DP World’s leadership team.
The purpose-built logistics park will expand DP World’s regional footprint and bring pioneering multi-modal logistics solutions to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The port-centric park will boost Jeddah Islamic Port’s re-export activities and reduce the time and cost of logistics for importers and exporters. It will provide an integrated service platform that links port operations with last-mile activities. It will also offer processing, labelling, fulfilment, consolidation, de-consolidation, and temperature-controlled storage for cargo.
DP World signed a new concession agreement with Mawani in April 2020 to continue operating and managing the South Container Terminal at the Jeddah Islamic Port for 30 years, committing to invest more than AED2.94 billion ($800 million) to expand and modernise the terminal. The overhaul project will take place over four phases and be completed by 2024.
The project will see infrastructural upgrades, including the broadening of draft depth and quay, the installation of advanced equipment and technologies, automation and digitalisation programmes, and decarbonisation initiatives. Once complete, the revamped terminal will increase Jeddah Islamic Port’s container handling capacity from the current 2.5 million TEUs to 4 million TEUs and enhance Jeddah Islamic Port’s status as a major trade and logistics centre on the Red Sea coast.
