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The number of logistics centers in the Kingdom rose 267% to 22 in 2023, compared to 2021 as a base year, according to a General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) report (pdf).
Geographical distribution: The Eastern Region boasts six of the country’s 22 centers, covering 6.3 mn sqm. Makkah and Riyadh follow closely with five centers each, spanning 20 mn sqm, and 4.9 mn sqm respectively.
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Maritime cargo takes the lion’s share: Saudi ports processed some 308.7 mn tons of cargo in 2023 — the highest across the board, while land transport accounted for 24.9 mn tons. Meanwhile, railways moved 14.3 mn tons, and air freight handled 918k tons of cargo over the same period.
The country is also home to nearly 12.5k warehouses with a combined area of 22.8 mn sqm, according to the report. Riyadh has 6.6k warehouses spanning 10.6 mn sqm, leading in both count and area, followed by Makkah with 2.2k warehouses covering 6.5 mn sqm.
REMEMBER- Rents for warehousing facilities in Saudi Arabia have been on the rise, spurred by growing demand, even as investments continued to flow into expanding warehousing capacity across the country. Average lease rates for light industrial units and grade B facilities in Riyadh rose 10.4% in 1H 2024, as growing industrial investments put more pressure on facility supply.
Warehouse licenses: General warehouse licenses constituted 55.6% of total warehouse licenses, at 6.9k. Humidity-controlled and refrigerated warehouses followed with 2.1k and 2k licenses, respectively.
The Kingdom issued 170 valid licenses for customs clearance activities in 2023. Customs authority licenses were the most common, totaling 57, followed by 47 airport licenses.
IN OTHER LOGISTICS NEWS-
Saudi ports scored 241.6 points on UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index for 4Q 2024, the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) said in a post on X. The index measures a country’s integration into global shipping routes, reflecting the efficiency of its maritime transport systems.
The index is based on six components — the number of ships, container-carrying capacity, maximum vessel size, number of shipping services, number of direct country-pair connections, and the number of companies operating container ships in the nation’s ports.
