It’s a new dawn for Egypt’s ports in the World Bank’s port performance index. Five of Egypt’s ports — including Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Dekheila, and Ain Sokhna — made it to the World Bank and S&P Global’s annual Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2024 (pdf).

But first, how does the index work? The index takes into account time spent in port and the efficiency with which port hours are spent, deploying operational time stamps to track movement across ports and metrics like crane productivity to approximate the efficiency of hours spent at port. The index includes 403 of the 529 ports for which S&P Global has data, excluding all ports with less than 24 valid port calls within a calendar year.

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Port Said Port now ranks third globally and first in the region, jumping 13 spots from lastyear’s 16th place — driven largely by strategic investments and reforms, as well as eased pressure on its services due to Red Sea tensions, the report states. The port at the northern end of the Suez Canal is behind only China’s Yangshan Port and Fuzhou Port.

In total, four ports in the region made the top 20, with Port Said joined by Morocco’s Tanger-Med Port in fifth place, Qatar’s Hamad Port in 11th place, and Oman’s Salalah Port in 15th place, after falling from being ranked in second place globally last year.

New expansions at the port allowed it to continue operating smoothly even as Suez Canal traffic dropped due to tensions in the Red Sea, a source told us back in May. The port managed to double trips to and from Saudi Arabia as an alternative route amid disruptions that pushed ships away from the Bab El Mandeb Strait.

The port’s performance was boosted by recent expansion projects, a senior official from the port told EnterpriseAM. More expansions are also lined up, with East Port Said undergoing a major expansion in its Suez Canal Container Terminal — backed by a loan from the International Finance Corporation. The project will increase the capacity of the port’s existing 2.4 km container berth by 2.1 mn TEUs to allow an annual capacity of 6.6 mn TEUs. Recent expansion work added 6.3 km to the port’s length, which helped increase its overall handling capacity to 9-10 mn containers last year.

Infrastructure development for the new expansions has cost some USD 500 mn, according to our source. Several projects under construction are set to launch this half of the year, including a general cargo terminal, a dry bulk terminal, and a ro-ro terminal.

Global shipping alliances have been tapping the port, signaling confidence in its operations, the source told us. For example, East Port Said’s container terminal is already operated by AP-Moller and Maersk Line — under their joint Gemini Alliance, and acts as a key transshipment point at the port.

An alliance led by Hapag-Lloyd is working on an agreement for a new terminal in Port Said — expected to be finalized by either the end of this year or early 2026, the source added.

Transit trade continues to grow at Port Said, with business operating normally at the port despite regional disruptions through the Bab El Mandeb Strait, a senior port official told EnterpriseAM. Container traffic increased at the port, which accounts for nearly 80% of the country’s transit trade, the source said. Handling rates also rose, with faster loading and unloading operations.

Three logistics zones — spanning some 24 sq km — are nestled in the port’s vicinity. The opening of a new ro-ro terminal at the port is driving up investment activity and encouraging automotive and electronic manufacturers to invest in the country, said the source.

Sky Logistics and Reliance Logistics are also working on a multipurpose terminal — which is expected to be operational by the end of the year. A pilot phase has already handled six mn tons of cargo, drawing fully integrated supply chains to the area.

Other Egyptian ports also saw major improvements over the previous year, with Dekheila Port seeing the largest improvement — jumping up 151 spots to settle at 190th place on the worldwide ranking. Similarly, Damietta Port climbed up 142 spots to land at 245th place overall. The growth comes after two consecutive years of significant drops at both ports, indicating improved operational health.

But other Egyptian ports recorded significant dips in their comparative performance, including Alexandria Port, which fell some 75 spots to rank in 247th place, while Sokhna Port dropped some 97 spots to 217th place.

Your top infrastructure stories for the week:

  • Egypt, Greece wrap up GREGY studies: Egypt and Greece signed an agreement to conclude the technical and economic studies for the 3 GW Egypt-Greece Interconnector (GREGY).
  • Matrouh is getting a special economic zone: A 402k-feddan area in Gargoub in Matrouh governorate has been designated as a new special economic zone.
  • CPC Industrial Development Company will build a new 1.2 mn sqm industrial zone in Sadat City, and has already had the land for the project allocated by the Industrial Development Authority.
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