Gulf’s $46 Billion Ports Bring Capacity Seeking Market: Freight - Businessweek

Persian Gulf states risk creating a glut in container capacity as they spend $46 billion on port projects amid sputtering global economic growth.

More than 35 ports stretching from Kuwait at the head of the Gulf to Oman on the Indian Ocean plan to add space for as many as 60 million standard containers in little over a decade, more than doubling capacity from the current 50 million boxes.

The plans will extend an oil-funded infrastructure splurge that’s also set to endow the Gulf with some of the world’s biggest airports. Unlike those hubs, which will serve a global market, its ports rely on a local population of 40 million people and lack the urbanized hinterland that helps sustain major global harbors such as Rotterdam and Hong Kong.

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