With more than 750 port calls planned this year, Maersk Line is set to play a key role in the growth of Saudi Arabia’s trade.

The Saudi retail business is estimated to be worth USD 83 billion in 2012 and projected to reach USD 131.2 billion by 2016. Saudi Arabia has a largely young population and personal disposable income levels are expected to grow at 10% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next five years, making the country one of the most attractive markets for retail business.

Saudi Arabia is a key player in global petrochemicals manufacturing. More than USD 10 billion has been invested in the sector over the past two years and an additional USD 10 billion is planned to be invested in the next three years, primarily in the industrial hub cities of Jubail and Yanbu.

More than USD 400 billion has been earmarked for infrastructure development by the government. “Exports and imports have grown more than 15 per cent year on year because of the country’s huge potential and Maersk is looking forward to assisting the growth and development of the trade in the kingdom,” says Sunil Joseph, Managing Director of Maersk Line in Saudi Arabia.

As delays in delivery schedules mean losses to the business at large, Maersk Line will continue to go the extra mile to ensure schedule integrity and reliability, he added.

Maersk committed to Saudi growth

Even during periods of heavy port congestion across the country, Maersk Line has maintained on-time vessel arrivals and departures at accuracy levels of more than 90%. Customers have appreciated that the transportation time on Maersk Line vessels has not been impacted negatively.

Mr. Bill Walker, Head of Supply Chain and Operations, Mohammed Abdullah Sharbatly (the largest fruit consignee across Saudi Arabia) shares: “Regardless of the point of origin, Maersk Line offers the most consistent and reliable schedules for delivery of perishable cargo in Saudi Arabia. This represents a significant advantage over competition.”

In addition to its product offerings and transit times, Maersk Line has observed high wastage in the shipping industry across Saudi Arabia. For instance, space on vessels is not utilised to its full potential, due to the fact that a large number of bookings that are ‘reserved for space’ by customers are not realised. The container turn time and free time is much longer than in neighbouring markets.

Additionally, the availability of equipment is a challenge due to the east-west imbalance, and the process of positioning empty equipment is long and cumbersome. There are fewer direct products in the Saudi market with rates being far less than in neighbouring markets which offer higher returns on investment.

Maersk Line’s response to these challenges is having professionals in the industry who work closely with customers and other stakeholders across the ministries of transportation, ports, customs and related departments.

The goal is to implement process improvements in the current not very efficient setup for giving smooth cargo handling and clearance opportunities to Saudi customers. For example, Maersk Line’s staff has assisted customers in adopting new methods of transporting cargo. The dry exports in reefer equipment, popularly called NOR (non operating reefer), have more than doubled in 2012 as Saudi customers realised the importance of equipment availability and seamless operations and have been quick to embrace this innovative concept and reap its benefits.

-- Source from Maersk Line