Khalifa Port Cargo Surges 224pc

TDT | Manama

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• Port handles more cargo in seven months than during all of 2025
• Recovery gathers pace as Bahrain works to keep supply chains moving
•  Khalifa Bin Salman Port sees strong rebound after shipping disruption

Cargo traffic at Khalifa Bin Salman Port has surged past last year’s levels, with second-quarter volumes more than tripling and July becoming the port’s busiest month in almost six years.

General cargo reached about 277,500 tonnes between April and June, up from 85,600 tonnes in the same quarter of 2025 —a rise of 224.2pc.

The jump came after a bruising start to the year as regional tensions hit shipping and supply routes. General cargo fell to zero in March and remained affected into part of April.

The rebound was sharp enough to lift first-half traffic to 374,200 tonnes, compared with 271,100 tonnes a year earlier, an increase of 38.1pc.

Almost three quarters of all cargo handled in the first six months came in the second quarter. Its total was nearly three times the 96,700 tonnes recorded from January to March.

The April-to-June figure also exceeded the entire first-half total for 2025.

Traffic kept climbing in July, when the port handled 170,881 tonnes of general cargo, against 71,878 tonnes a year earlier. That amounted to a rise of 137.7pc and was 51.7pc higher than June.

July was the third-busiest month in records stretching back to January 2019. Only July 2020, when 193,706 tonnes were handled, and August 2020, with 186,905 tonnes, were higher.

It was the strongest monthly showing since August 2020.

The turnaround began in April, when cargo reached 59,400 tonnes, against 12,400 tonnes a year earlier.

May followed with 105,600 tonnes, up 138.9pc year on year, before June climbed to 112,600 tonnes, compared with 29,000 tonnes in June 2025.

Across May, June and July, the port handled about 389,000 tonnes of general cargo, up from 145,100 tonnes in the same three months last year.

That pushed the total for the first seven months of 2026 to 545,100 tonnes, a rise of 59pc from 342,900 tonnes a year earlier.

By the end of July, the port had already handled more general cargo than in the whole of 2025.

Last year’s full-year total stood at about 510,400 tonnes, meaning the first seven months of 2026 were already 34,700 tonnes, or 6.8pc, higher with five months still to run.

The January-to-July figure was also equal to 96.4pc of all general cargo handled in 2024.

The rise follows steps taken by the Government during the regional crisis to keep supplies moving and maintain stocks of food and consumer goods.

The Cabinet had earlier reviewed measures adopted in response to the Iranian attacks and the strain placed on shipping and supply chains.

Bahrain also approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia in March covering medicines, medical supplies and supply-chain management.

The rise in general cargo comes as Khalifa Bin Salman Port has also climbed global rankings for container handling.

It ranked 19th worldwide in the latest Container Port Performance Index issued by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence and was among the five ports recording the biggest gains during the period assessed.

Khalifa Bin Salman Port covers about 110 hectares, with around 1,800 metres of quay, deep-water berths for large ships and facilities for general cargo, bulk goods, containers and roll-on, roll-off traffic.

It is linked by road across Bahrain and to Saudi Arabia through the King Fahd Causeway.