SAR Signs Agreement with Maersk to Increase Number of Containers Transported between Dammam, Riyadh

SAR CEO Bashar Khalid Al-Malik and Maersk Saudi Arabia CEO Mohammad Shihab signed the three-year contract
SAR CEO Bashar Khalid Al-Malik and Maersk Saudi Arabia CEO Mohammad Shihab signed the three-year contract
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SAR Signs Agreement with Maersk to Increase Number of Containers Transported between Dammam, Riyadh

SAR CEO Bashar Khalid Al-Malik and Maersk Saudi Arabia CEO Mohammad Shihab signed the three-year contract
SAR CEO Bashar Khalid Al-Malik and Maersk Saudi Arabia CEO Mohammad Shihab signed the three-year contract

Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has signed a contract with the sea shipping company Maersk to increase the number of containers transported on SAR trains between King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and Riyadh Dry Port.
SAR CEO Bashar Khalid Al-Malik and Maersk Saudi Arabia CEO Mohammad Shihab signed the three-year contract based on which the number of containers transported through the east train increase, safe and lasting transportation solutions are provided and the Kingdom’s competitiveness grows, helping it realize its strategic goals and boost the Kingdom's global Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in a way that aligns with Saudi Vision 2030.
The contract will also help increase operational efficiency, decrease the number of trucks between Dammam and Riyadh cities, reduce carbon emissions, and maintain road infrastructure.
Al-Malik stressed that such contracts improve the shipping sector, and reaffirmed SAR's dedication to providing safe and creative solutions to enhance operational efficiency at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and Riyadh Dry Port, thus improving the overall transportation sector.
Shihab said the contract is a step toward finding cooperative solutions, between Maersk and SAR, to digital transformation and sustainable logistics. He also said it will contribute to elevating Dammam Port to a regional station for global trade routes from the east to the local markets and farther to the countries in the region.



Turkish Annual Inflation Falls More Than Expected to 44.38%

A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
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Turkish Annual Inflation Falls More Than Expected to 44.38%

A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo
A shopkeeper uses his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a popular middle-class shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File photo

Turkish annual consumer price inflation fell more than expected to 44.38% in December, official data showed on Friday, with education, housing and restaurant prices leading the rise.

Month on month, inflation was 1.03%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, compared with 2.24% in November. Annual consumer price inflation (CPI) was 47.09% in November.

Furniture prices rose 2.78% from the previous month, data showed, while telecoms-related prices gained by 1.82%.

In a Reuters poll, the annual inflation rate was expected to fall to 45.2%, with the monthly figure seen at 1.61%, owing to easing food price inflation and a limited rise in energy prices.

The latest inflation print was close to the central bank's midpoint prediction of 44% for the end of 2024.

The bank, having kept its main interest rate steady at 50% since March, launched an easing cycle last week, cutting the policy rate by 250 basis points to 47.5%.

The bank said it will set policy "prudently" meeting by meeting with a focus on the inflation outlook while responding to any expected "significant and persistent deterioration".

The Turkish lira was little changed after the data at 35.3850 to the dollar, hovering around the record lows.

The domestic producer price index was up 0.4% month on month in December for an annual rise of 28.52%, the data showed.