JIP handles 30.6 million tons of goods in H1

Some 30.6 million tons of goods were handled at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) in the first half of 2013 compared to 30.9 million tons during the same period last year, local media said quoting a JIP official.
Director General of Saudi Ports Authority (SPA) Musaid Aldrees, speaking to a local daily, said the volume of goods handled during the period represents 33.6 percent of the overall import and export goods handled at all Saudi ports.
On the number of containers handled during H1, 2013, he said more than 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) were handled, or 70 percent of the total containers handled in all ports of the Kingdom.
On the imparted items through JIP, he said they contained foodstuffs, building materials and other consumer goods whereas oil, petrochemical and industrial products were the major export items during the period.
Regarding foodstuffs, he said, 917,214 tons and 766,000 tons were handled during May and June respectively of which 91,726 tons and 77,666 tons were delivered to the importers during the two months, respectively, after completion of clearance procedures.
The port received 516,303 and 500,647 heads of livestock during May and June of the current year where some 968,497 tons and 952,763 tons of building materials were handled during the two months respectively, he said.
The operational capacity of the JIP recorded considerable growth in 2012 when it handled 62.7 million tons of goods or an increase of 20.58 percent over 2012 figures.
The number of containers handled during 2012 stood at 4.7 million, an increase of 17.90 percent over the previous year’s data. The volume of handled items during 2012 were: 22.82 million tons of general goods, an increase of 21.33 percent over last year, 11.75 million tons of foodstuffs (+13.23 percent), 11.06 million tons of building materials (+31.33 percent), 669,849 cars (+37.06 percent) and 318,011 incoming and outgoing passengers (+15.34 percent), the report said.