Ports in Saudi Arabia are being overwhelmed by the increase in imports which has occurred over the last year. The delays in unloading have caused two international freight shipping carriers to refuse to transport containers to Jeddah from America.
The crisis also resulted in a steep increase in container shipment charges from the port to various parts of the Kingdom – as much as 90 percent in some cases. Two US shipping companies have refused to operate from Jeddah, and other international freight carriers have also plans to halt operations to Jeddah due to long delays in loading and unloading containers at the port.