JEDDAH: Shipping costs have increased by 700 percent as a result of the pandemic, according to the CEO of the Saudi National Industrialization Co. 

Container plants in China stopped their production during the pandemic, which led to an increase in the container rental price from $800-1,200 to $7,500-8,500.

The long-term shipping contracts signed by the company, also known as TASNEE, mitigated the impact of the price hike, Mutlaq Al-Morished told Al Arabia. 

He expects a gradual decline in freight rates, starting in the middle of 2022.

Al-Morished also set out plans to reduce TASNEE’s carbon footprint, which is equivalent to 0.7 percent of the emissions produced in Saudi Arabia.

The CEO said his company, one of the largest manufacturers of car batteries in the Middle East, would cut its emissions by 30 percent by adopting better recycling practices.