DHL has continued its Middle East expansion by striking a multi-million dollar deal with SaudiAramco, the world’s No. 1 crude oil producer, to develop its national logistics infrastructure.
The 10-year deal, said by Deutsche Post World Net to be one of the largest business dealsever achieved by DHL Exel Supply Chain in the region, involves the management of four cross-docksin Dammam, Riyadh, Jiddah and Yanbu and 14 service centres, employing a total of 400 staff.
DHL is also setting up a system enabling Saudi Aramco customers to track the transport oforders in real time on the Internet. “Working with the world’s leading energy provider is afantastic opportunity for us. This win is testament to the fact that we are the premier logisticsprovider to the oil and gas sector in the Middle East,” said John Allan, board member at DeutschePost World Net.
Mohammed Otaibi, Saudi Aramco material logistics manager, commented: “DHL Exel Supply Chainin Saudi Arabia will replace the current fragmented logistics arrangements with an integratedsupply chain service,” he added. “We are delighted to embark on this long term and importantcommercial relationship with DHL, in the knowledge that their logistics expertise represents aperfect strategic fit with our Kingdom-wide business.”
The deal is reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars and requires investment by DHLand its Saudi partner SNAS of EUR 26.8 million to create new facilities to cope with an annual10-15% weight capacity growth in the country, said Arab News. The carrier is currently handling9,000 shipments a day in Saudi Arabia.
