Logistics & Supply Chain current GCC market status and evidence monitor

Executive summary

Evidence

Findings

• Jebel Ali handled 15.5 million TEU and 5.4 million tonnes of breakbulk cargo in 2024. DP World’s 2025 results then reported around 9 percent year-on-year growth in Jebel Ali origin-and-destination volumes, 1.5 million vehicles across Dubai terminals and 5.67 million tonnes of breakbulk at Jebel Ali. These figures establish operating scale and flow intensity; they do not reveal spare warehouse capacity, a customer list or a margin available to an entrant.
• The 2025 DP World results report that the modernised South Container Terminal in Jeddah more than doubled capacity to 4 million TEU. Capacity is not throughput and neither figure proves that a particular lane, commodity, service provider or technology has accessible demand. Horizon therefore keeps terminal capacity, actual handled volume and customer-specific throughput as separate evidence fields.
• ZATCA’s Saudi import guidance instructs importers to complete the customs declaration and supporting documents through Fasah at least 48 hours before arrival. This is a preparation requirement, not a guaranteed clearance time. Product approval, inspection, manifest accuracy, broker performance and the selected port can still control release.
• Dubai Customs introduced a conditional AED 500 amendment-fine waiver for qualifying sea-cargo declarations submitted before vessel arrival and amended before or within 72 hours after arrival, effective 25 January 2026. The waiver is useful only where the bill of lading, delivery order and other documents can be reconciled early; it is not a general waiver for inaccurate or late declarations.
• From 10 May 2026, Dubai Customs moved declaration and claim submission on Dubai Trade to UAE Pass identity matching. A basic account created without Emirates ID verification cannot submit. The operational owner, Mirsal profile and identity match should therefore be confirmed before shipment rather than discovered during an exception.
• The regional logistics opportunity is the controlled movement of a named flow, not aggregate port growth. A commercial record must retain commodity, twelve- or eight-digit code where applicable, origin, destination, importer, declaration regime, carrier, port or airport, terminal, inland leg, frequency, volume, service owner, baseline performance and exception cost.
• The Dubai 2024 and 2025 breakbulk values use different reporting periods, while the Jeddah figure is terminal capacity rather than handled volume. Horizon preserves those distinctions and rejects a combined GCC throughput number because it would mix ports, units, periods and evidence states.
• Three commercial models need different proof: an asset or warehouse investment needs committed volume and occupancy economics; a freight or brokerage service needs recurring lanes and shipper authority; a visibility or automation platform needs system access, accountable exception ownership and measurable operational improvement.
• Pre-arrival filing can reduce avoidable delay only when the importer, product permission, tariff classification, manifest identifiers and authorised user are ready. The 48-hour Saudi instruction and the Dubai amendment window should not be represented as customs-clearance guarantees.
• Oman Customs describes Bayan declarations for imports, exports and transit. The file requires the applicable documents and permits, with commercial invoice, manufacturer’s country-of-origin certificate and the exporter-country declaration listed as core documents. It publishes OMR 15 for a company declaration and OMR 5 for an individual declaration. Those amounts are administrative service fees, not the duty, VAT, permit, broker, inspection, storage or inland-transport budget.
• Bayan user registration is a separate identity and authority step. Oman Customs publishes OMR 10 per registered person and lists prerequisites for individuals, companies and customs-clearance personnel, including employer registration and broker training where applicable. A corporate Bayan account without the correct authorised user does not complete the operating route.
• Qatar’s Al Nadeeb is the customs single window for declaration and risk-management functions. System access can organise the administrative route, but it does not prove that the item is permitted, that a low-risk channel will apply, that inspection is avoided or that storage and onward delivery are ready. Product permission, declaration status and physical release remain separate receipts.
• Kuwait’s commercial-import procedure starts with an electronic customs declaration entered by the importer, authorised representative or customs broker, followed by document submission, duties and fees, inspection and exit permission. The official file requires the original invoice and certificate of origin, delivery order and bill of lading, plus a land manifest and packing list where applicable. A submitted declaration is not a release receipt.
• Kuwait’s automated customs-system registration requires a valid commercial or industrial licence, import licence, approved signature and authorised signatory ID. The portal publishes KWD 0 fixed and variable fees for this registration service. That zero fee neither removes company, licence, broker, duty, inspection, storage or transport costs nor authorises a restricted product.
• Kuwait temporary admission requires the approved declaration, stated purpose, supporting authority permissions and a bank or cash guarantee equal to the duties due at registration. An extension must be requested before expiry and the published route limits temporary admission to six months without prior customs permission. Temporary admission is not permanent commercial-import clearance.
• Bahrain’s Ofoq declaration service publishes BHD 3 for a declaration before goods arrive, BHD 5 for the statement fee and a one-working-day target, with taxes additional. The online Ofoq route for products regulated by Testing and Metrology separately checks invoices, packing information and product-specific conformity evidence before local-market entry. Neither service target guarantees physical release when documents, conformity, inspection or another authority remains unresolved.
• Saudi customs-services fees process an import declaration at 0.15 percent of the incoming-goods value including insurance and freight, subject to the published SAR 15 minimum and SAR 500 maximum; the ceiling for goods exempt from VAT is SAR 130. ZATCA states that the listed customs-service fees for exports were waived. The calculation is not the customs-duty, VAT, product-permission, broker, terminal or inland-transport total.
• ZATCA publishes a five-calendar-day service target and no fee for ATA Carnet temporary admission. Eligible categories include exhibition or meeting goods, professional equipment, containers, pallets, packaging, samples and educational, scientific or cultural goods. Carnet eligibility, item identity, permitted use, custody, port processing and re-export closure remain separate evidence states.
• Oman Customs requires government and Director General approvals, an application and site plan, warehouse-operator registration, a warehouse code, a customs decision and guarantees for a public or private customs warehouse. The published OMR 1,000 issuance and annual-renewal fee does not replace land, building, Civil Defence, insurance, inventory-control or customs-supervision requirements.
• Bahrain’s customs-warehouse establishment file requires the commercial registration, Civil Defence certificate, comprehensive goods insurance, operating schematic, engineering map and lease and includes a site visit. The published 30-working-day target applies to a complete application; neither submission nor elapsed target time authorises bonded operations.
• Qatar’s specified import-with-intention-to-re-export procedure uses a six-month reconciliation horizon and a bank guarantee. Entry, permitted use, item-level inventory, Al Nadeeb expiry notice, re-export evidence and final guarantee settlement should remain separate controls rather than one “temporary import approved” status.
• Industrial and trade flows requiring reliable inbound, production and outbound coordination
• E-commerce and retail promises translated into cut-off, delivery, return and cost-to-serve metrics
• Decision-chain evidence: Cargo owner and finance owner carrying inventory, freight, demurrage, damage and service-failure exposure. Record the named institution, accountable role, current need and dated route into the decision.
• Decision-chain evidence: Procurement and operations owners defining the lane, volume commitment, service level and escalation route. Record the named institution, accountable role, current need and dated route into the decision.
• Evidence gate: Commodity, HS code, importer, origin, product approval and customs-regime validation.
• Evidence gate: System, identity, data, cyber and operational-control interoperability.

Method and limits

How this brief was produced

Horizon integrated official sector authorities, multilateral or research sources and the reviewed GCC sector dossier. The brief tracks market structure, commercial signals and evidence gates without inventing a regional market-size number.

Original sources