Oman sees 28% increase in imports through seaports

Muscat: Omani seaports recorded an increase in the volume of imported goods during the first five months of this year to 15.7 million tonnes, compared to 12.2 million tonnes in the same period last year, an increase of 28.4 per cent.

The value of merchandise imports through sea customs ports amounted to OMR4.1 billion, an increase of 37.4 per cent over its level in the same period last year, accounting for 67.6 per cent of the total value of merchandise imports.

This is on the back of the efforts to upgrade the capabilities of the ports for imports and exports during the past five years.

This is at a time when Duqm Port is all set for a new stage during which automatic lifting equipment would operate instead of the current cranes used.

Statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed that the increase comes within the recovery and growth in a number of economic sectors coupled with the Sultanate’s efforts for increasing spending as to enhance and improve economic activity and to support economic growth.

The increase is also driven by the procedures taken by the Directorate General of Customs at Royal Oman Police which aimed to facilitate customs procedures and online customs clearance and online provision of details of cargo 48 hours ahead of arrival of the vessel /ship.

The goods received through the ports represent 86.1 percent of the total imports of goods received at all customs posts / outlets during the first five months of the current year, which amounted to 18.3 million tonnes.

The value of goods imported through sea customs posts during the first five months of the current year amounted to OMR4.1 billion (67.6 percent of the total value of registered imports), an increase of 37.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

The first five months of the current year saw and increase of 21.7 percent in the value of goods registered which increased from OMR5 billion to OMR6.1 billion while the total imports increased by 17.7 percent to reach 18.3 million tonnes from 15.5 million tonnes.