SAUDI Ports Authority plans to call for new tenders for container terminal concessions at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) in 2017 unless the present holders can perform better than they do today, reports Seatrade Global of Colchester, England
Rival Red Sea ports in fierce battle for 2M and Ocean3 callsSAUDI Ports Authority plans to call for new tenders for container terminal concessions at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) in 2017 unless the present holders can perform better than they do today, reports Seatrade Global of Colchester, England
JIP director general Sahir Tahlawi said existing concessionaires needed to discharge their obligations and "do a good job, otherwise [they] would lose [them]," said the report.
Being only five years into a 25-year concession Red Sea Gateway Terminal and Tusdeer bonded warehouse owners, will not be part of the Jeddah shakeup.
In this battle of the Red Sea ports, DP World has not done well with JIP's South Terminal, which saw its volumes fall to 800,000 TEU last year against its 2.4 million TEU annual capacity.
This was attributed to MSC pulling out in May in favour of its fierce rival, the privately owned King Abdullah Port (KAP) at Rabigh, 100 kilometres north of Jeddah.
The UAE's Gulftainer has 51 per cent of Gulf Stevedoring, operator of Jeddah North, it being understood that Maersk has also understood to have pulled in favour of KAP.
DP World Jeddah chief Ahmed Al-Amoudi said his Dubai head office was looking for an MSC replacement at the terminal that pays JIP 65 per cent of its revenues to the government in a 20-year concession that expires in 2019.
Said Mr Al Amoudi: "Competition has increased because the lines going to KAP are not giving a penny to the government."
With KAP's stated capacity at 2.7 million TEU, is also lies directly on the main Asia-Europe, boasting it can cut transits by five to seven days. It is estimated to have an annual volume of one to 1.5 million TEU.
Saudi Arabia's first privately owned port, KAP is owned by Ports Development Co, which in turn is owned by Emaar Economic City and the Saudi bin Laden Group.
KAP has granted one concession to National Container Terminal (NCT), a Saudi company associated with International Port Managers (IPM) and National Port Services (NPS), part of Nesma Holding Group.
While current fashion favours KAP, long-term trends and projected parallel railway development favour JIP because of the trans-Saudi rail line from Jeddah to Damman on the Persian Gulf to open in 2020, that will in turn link to a railway from Kuwait to Oman.
