Almarai Company, one of the largest food and dairy products companies in the Middle East, signed a strategic agreement with Ports Development Company (PDC) for the usage of the Bulk Cargo Terminal at King Abdullah Port, to become the first tenant of the King Abdullah Port Bulk Terminal and the Processing and Services Zone (PSZ), an integrated port industrial park which is managed by PDC. Under this agreement, PDC undertakes the responsibility of developing the infrastructure and readying the quay to receive bulk cargo, as Almarai will manage the usage of the designated quay to receive its cargo where it will become a station to receive vessels and unload their cargo that will be transported and warehoused to the conveniently near Processing and Services Zone (PSZ). Mr. Abdullah Hameedaddin, Managing Director of PDC and Eng. Abdulrahman Al Fadley, CEO of Almarai, in the presence of Mr. Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of King Abdullah Economic City, alongside a number of representatives from both sides, signed the agreement.
Commenting on this, Mr. Abdullah Hameedaddin, Managing Director of PDC stated that: “This agreement comes in the framework of the exceptional efforts exerts by Ports Development Company to continue be on top of the development works at King Abdullah Port with the most advanced machinery and technology to present an innovative understanding of ports amenities in the Kingdom, catering the requirements of both private and public sectors in line with global standards to meet the demand of Saudi firms that require complete logistical solutions in line with the nature of their businesses and objectives.”
“Our vision is that King Abdullah Port has put forth is to be an advantageous and sustainable world-class port that delivers long-term value to the beneficiaries, working hand in hand with the ports systems in Saudi Arabia and enhancing its capabilities to meet the increasing demand and growth of import and export operations in line with the economic growth that the country is witnessing,” concluded Mr. Abdullah.
Eng. Abdulrahman Al Fadley, CEO of Almarai expressed that: “We are extremely proud to partner with Ports Development Company based on our selection to set up at King Abdullah Port, which was determined based on the exceptional amenities and possibilities that the port will offer Almarai, which gratifies our needs for a logistical procedure for our imports and serves the developmental strategy of our company.”
King Abdullah Port has already commenced transshipment, import, and export operations and has been included in the routes of leading global shipping lines. The port’s medium-term plan is to develop container capacity of 7 million TEU’s (twenty foot equivalent units) in addition to RoRo, bulk and general cargo services. The port’s long-term plan is to increase its container capacity to 20 million TEU’s.
