Saudi Arabia found a way to bypass the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz through the desert
Saudi Arabia has launched a land route to export mineral fertilizers, bypassing the blocked Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reported this.
State-owned mining company Maaden sends about 3,500 trucks through the country every day, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. In early May, there were only about 600 of them per day. Trucks cannot completely replace container ships, but they help reduce the risk of fertilizer shortages and a possible food crisis. Shipping companies MSC and Maersk are also switching to road transport.
The load on the port of Khor Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman has increased sharply: instead of 100 trucks per day, about 7,000 now arrive there, and the weekly turnover of containers has increased from 2,000 to 50,000. The operator of the port, Gulftainer, hired 900 employees in two weeks and built a new sorting center.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia brought to full capacity the oil pipeline laid through the desert from the fields near the Persian Gulf to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. It was built back in 1981 during the Iran-Iraq war in case of such a crisis.
Analysts at CRU, who initially doubted Saudi Arabia’s ability to maintain exports, now call what is happening a logistical miracle.
