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Saudi Arabia Establishes Largest Regional Port for Importing, Processing Grains

Flour mill worker. Asharq Al-Awsat
Flour mill worker. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia Establishes Largest Regional Port for Importing, Processing Grains

Flour mill worker. Asharq Al-Awsat
Flour mill worker. Asharq Al-Awsat

The Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) and SALIC, the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company, a Public Investment Fund owned company, signed an agreement through video conferencing to lease a land in Yanbu Commercial Port to be used to develop the Kingdom’s largest and first grain terminal.

With a land mass of 313,000 square meters, the terminal will be importing, processing and exporting grains in the Kingdom in two phases, and with a total capacity of 5 million tons annually.

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) Eng. Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Mohsen al-Fadhli and Minister of Transport Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and was signed by Eng. Saad bin Abdulaziz Al-Khalb, President of MAWANI and the CEO of SALIC, Eng. Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman Al-Rumaih.

Commenting on the signing, Al-Jasser, who is Chairman of Mawani’s Board of Directors, said: “The Yanbu grain project aims to build the first regional center and logistic platform for importing, processing and exporting grains in KSA, taking advantage of the Yanbu commercial port’s exceptional location on the Red Sea coast and the competitive advantage its provides given its proximity to local and regional markets in the Red Sea Basin and the Horn of Africa.”

“This partnership plays a vital role in the ports and logistic services sector, given they are the main enablers of many key industries and sectors, including the food security sector,” he added.

“It also goes in line with MAWANI’s strategic objectives of fully utilizing the huge absorptive capacity in Saudi ports and raising the percentage of private sector investment in the port sector to 90% by 2030. By doing this it will serve the establishment of various development projects that contribute to achieving added value to the national economy, and supporting the investment landscape and commercial traffic in the Kingdom.”

“This regional project will support the operational traffic in the Yanbu Commercial Port, attract additional international shipping lines, and increase investment in the logistic services sector which will bring about significant growth in operational traffic and the increase in the number of ships that lead the port,” Al-Jasser concluded.

One of SALIC’s key strategic objectives is to significantly contribute to the import of basic commodities that are in line with the food security strategy in the Kingdom. Furthermore, the company aims to invest in supply chains and ports in Saudi and countries where SALIC holds investments to ensure the sustainability of the supply of all basic commodities.

For its part, one of MAWANI’s strategic objectives is to partner with public and private sector organizations to support the Kingdom's ports in becoming the leading regional and international ports and providing an efficient, high capacity, integrated port network.

This will significantly support the Kingdom's economic growth plans, stimulate the logistics services industry and global supply chains, and position Saudi Arabia as a global logistical hub and link to the three continents, in line with Vision 2030.

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China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing's expense, vowing countermeasures against those who "appease" Washington in the blistering tariff war as its neighbors rush to secure favorable terms from the White House.

While the rest of the world has been hit with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods, AFP reported.

Parallel to Washington's full trade war against top economic rival China, a number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs.
South Korean giants such as Samsung Electronics and auto maker Hyundai stand to take a hefty hit if the White House goes ahead with its threatened levies.

Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that talks between Japan and the United States could be a "model for the world", after Tokyo's tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa visited Washington and met President Donald Trump last week.

"The fact that President Trump came out (to negotiate with Japan's envoy)... shows he sees talks with Japan as important," he told the country's parliament on Monday.

"Japan is their ally and the biggest investor and job creator in the US," Ishiba said.
US Vice President JD Vance also arrived in India on Monday for a four-day official visit as the two countries work to hash out a trade agreement.

But Beijing warned nations on Monday not to seek a deal with the United States that compromised its interests.

"Appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not be respected," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement.

"To seek one's own temporary selfish interests at the expense of others' interests is to seek the skin of a tiger," Beijing said.

That approach, it warned, "will ultimately fail on both ends and harm others".

"China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests," the spokesperson said.

"If such a situation occurs, China will never accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures," they added.

- 'Talking to China' -
Trump's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.

Trump said last week that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end the bitter trade war.

"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I would say they have reached out a number of times."

"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House.

China has vowed to fight the trade war "to the end" and has not confirmed specific talks with Washington, though it has called for dialogue.

Speaking alongside his Indonesian counterpart in Beijing on Monday, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi called for "openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win" and condemned "any form of unilateralism and trade protectionism".

"The abuse of tariffs will seriously damage the normal economic and trade exchanges among countries," he warned.

Beijing's commerce ministry also warned about an international order reverting to the "law of the jungle".

"Where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims," the spokesperson said.

As part of Trump's trade war, the US government has also lowered the threshold at which parcels to individuals require formal entry processing by US Customs -- to $800 from $2,500 as of April 5.

Trump's government has taken particular aim at China, and earlier this month Washington closed a duty-free exemption for small parcels from the country, a move that appeared to be designed to target low-cost online retailers like Temu and Shein.

In a statement in response, global shipping giant DHL said it will "temporarily" suspend the shipping of parcels worth more than $800 from businesses to individuals in the United States as of Monday.