On September 15, 2026, the head of the Saudi Ports Authority disclosed that during the recent regional supply chain adjustment period, investments in Saudi ports have exceeded 5.5 billion riyals, approximately 1.46 billion US dollars. Among them, Jeddah Islamic Port is rapidly assuming greater logistics hub functions. One number best illustrates the change: in the past, there were only about 2000 to 2500 trucks entering and leaving Jeddah Port every day, but now there are over 10000 trucks per day. International shipping companies including Maersk and MSC have added more than 34 vessels to call at Jeddah Port, with an additional investment of over 640 million riyals in the past three months solely to enhance container handling capacity. People who do business in the Middle East may need to take a fresh look at the map of Saudi Arabia recently.

The center of gravity moves westward

Previously, when people talked about Saudi logistics, the first things that came to mind were the eastern Dammam, Jubail, and the Persian Gulf. But now, the center of gravity is moving westward. Saudi Arabia is building a second channel for its supply chain. In the past, a large amount of goods relied on the Gulf direction. Now, Jeddah, Yanbu, King Abdullah Port, and NEOM related ports are gradually forming a West Coast logistics network, and the importance of the Red Sea is being repriced. The Saudi Ports Authority has clearly stated that in the next phase, it will continue to build economic zones and more efficient logistics areas. After the port expansion, it will require warehouses, logistics parks, roads, cold chains, container equipment, loading and unloading equipment, steel structures, fire protection, electrical systems, digital warehousing systems, vehicle management systems, and a large amount of industrial building materials. Keywords: Middle East News Network, Logistics, Gulf Ports

The second installment of the port industry chain

For Chinese companies, what they should truly see is not the 5.5 billion riyals themselves, but the demand behind the 5.5 billion riyals. Port investment is only the first payment, the industrial chain formed around the port is the second and third payment. After the growth of freight flow, it will continue to drive transportation vehicles, maintenance, warehousing, and supply chain services. For Chinese logistics equipment, steel structures, warehousing equipment, building materials, and engineering enterprises, the key words worth paying attention to may not only be Riyadh, but also Jeddah. From Dammam to Jeddah, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, the center of gravity of Saudi Arabia's logistics map is shifting westward, opening a new window for Chinese port industry chain enterprises to go global.Editor/Gao Xue