RIYADH — The total cargo tonnage handled in Saudi ports during the first half of 2020 was 149 million tons, while the total number of exported and imported containers reached 3.4 million coming on board 5,959 ships, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. According to the figures released by Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI), the Kingdom’s ports handled a total of 1.1 million containers, marking an increase of 4.23 percent, compared to the same period of the previous year. Saudi Arabia’s ports also achieved a 17 percent rise in total foodstuffs, a total of 14 million tons. The growth in Saudi Arabia’s ports performance during the first half of 2020 included the number of imported vehicles, marking an increase of 17 percent, by 395,000 vehicles, while the number of livestock reached 1.4 million heads. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the ports authority has worked out a series of operational plans and taken precautionary measures in cooperation with various relevant government sectors to ensure the quality and effectiveness of performance and business continuity around the clock, which contributed to providing supply chains and ensuring the abundance of food stocks. The ports authority seeks to contribute to stimulating the logistics industry, facilitating and supporting import and export operations in the Kingdom as part of its strategic plans and ambitious initiatives that aim to enhance the competitiveness of Saudi ports’ services and raise the performance of its maritime, operational and logistical operations.