Mawani Reports Significant Growth With 8.22% Increase In Transshipment Containers For November 2025

In November 2025, the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) reported a slight increase of 0.21% in total cargo throughput. The ports handled 17,825,988 tons of cargo, which includes general cargo, dry bulk, and liquid bulk. This is a small rise from the 17,788,247 tons managed during the same month in 2024.

General cargo accounted for 1,193,795 tons, while dry bulk reached 4,021,286 tons. Liquid bulk was the largest category with 12,610,907 tons. Despite this overall growth in cargo handling, container volumes saw a decline.

The total number of containers handled decreased by 2.97%, with figures dropping to 649,286 TEUs from last year's 669,174 TEUs. However, transshipment containers experienced an increase of 8.22%, reaching 162,252 TEUs compared to 149,927 TEUs in November 2024.

Imported containers fell by 6.83%, totalling 241,494 TEUs against the previous year's figure of 259,201 TEUs. Exported containers also saw a decrease of 5.58%, amounting to 245,540 TEUs compared to last year's total of 260,046 TEUs.

Maritime traffic showed positive growth with a rise of 6.81% in vessel numbers. A total of 1,020 vessels were recorded compared to the previous year's count of 955 vessels during the same period.

Passenger numbers surged significantly by 70.01%, reaching a total of 112,927 passengers compared to just 66,422 passengers last year. In contrast, vehicle volumes experienced a decline of 22.68%, dropping to 77,134 vehicles from last year's figure of 99,759 vehicles.

Economic Impact and Strategic Goals

The ports received an increased number of cattle heads as well—722,140 cattle heads were recorded in November this year compared to last year's count of 716,541 heads—a rise of 0.78%. These developments contribute positively to economic activities such as commercial trade and tourism.

The improvements align with Saudi Arabia's National Transport and Logistics Strategy aimed at enhancing its position as a global logistics hub. They also support industries related to maritime transport and bolster supply chains while contributing towards food security goals.

In October preceding this period in November, Mawani-supervised ports had already seen a significant increase in container handling by recording a rise of 12.19%. The total handled containers reached up to 709,393 TEUs compared with only about632,323 TEUs during October last year.

With inputs from SPA