Middle East Port Boom

Port development all around the Arabian Peninsula and neighbouring countries is running at unprecedented levels as national governments and private investors alike look beyond the current economic downturn towards the future infrastructure needs of this rapidly growing region.

Explosive growth in container throughput – from 15 million TEU to 24 million TEU in just four years – has already driven over US$38 billion in port investment, and a further US$40 billion is ready to be poured into port construction across the Middle East in a dash for terminal capacity reminiscent of China at the start of the previous decade.

Rising living standards have engendered wealthy consumer societies across the region, hungry for imported goods. In return expanding petrochemical-related industrial sectors and value-added logistics services are bearing fruit in the form of steadily growing export containers. Dubai might have set the pace in envisioning life beyond petrodollars and positioning itself as a trading and service-based economic powerhouse. Now the Emirate’s neighbours are looking to learn from that experience – the good and the not so good – and are devising their own strategies for life beyond oil.

Naturally, this raises questions about the real need for all this capacity. Can the local economies continue to consume and generate sufficient cargo to justify all of this terminal space in the coming years? Will any gaps be filled by transhipment traffic? As ocean container lines consolidate and merge, which ports will win tomorrow’s vessel calls, and which ones could lose out?

The latest in the renowned series of TOC Market Briefings addresses the real issues in the Middle East port boom and gathers together the people who are making it happen.

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The TOC Middle East Conference is bookable as a 2 day Conference Session package. There is also the option to book a one day Technical Briefing package