DP World awarded 30-year concession for Saudi container terminal

Dubai’s DP World has been awarded a 30-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession by the Saudi Ports Authority for the management and development of the Jeddah South Container Terminal at the multi-purpose Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia.

Under the agreement, DP World will invest up to $500m to improve and modernise the Jeddah Islamic Port, including major infrastructure development to enable the port to serve ultra-large container carriers.

Jeddah Islamic Port is the largest port in Saudi Arabia with annual container volume of over 6m teu. The port currently handles approximately 60% of the country’s sea imports.

As part of Saudi Arabia’s major port privatisation projects, the new terminal will also upgrade its capacity to 3.6m teu from 2.4m teu, to meet the expected growth demands of the future.

“DP World is honoured to support the kingdom’s 2030 growth vision through this new concession to transform the country into a global logistics hub. We have committed to investing significantly to modernise the Jeddah South Container terminal, which will not only result in greater direct and indirect job creation but also deliver best-in-class efficiency and productivity to the port’s operations,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World Group chairman and CEO.

In 2018, DP World handled 71.4m teu across its port portfolio of over 150 operations in over 45 countries.