Stained-glass illustration in blue glass of a robot and towers at the dawn of the infrastructure singularity

Sector guide 08 of 22 · Version 1.1

Ports and Logistics in Jordan

A Red Sea gateway becoming the intelligent supply chain of the Levant.

$3.6bn: forward investment in its own projects
23: projects in this guide
12: in or linked to Aqaba

The sector today

Ports and Logistics in Jordan

The Port of Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport and its gateway to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and Asia. Its container terminal handled one million TEU in 2025, up 22% in a year, and container volumes rose another 10% in the first quarter of 2026.

Aqaba's terminals are run under long concessions with global operators. APM Terminals is investing US$242 million to lift the container terminal above 1.7 million TEU under a concession to 2046, and in February 2026 AD Ports Group signed a 30-year concession for the multipurpose port. In October 2026 ground was broken on a 403 km freight railway linking the port with the mines.

The next phase moves inland. Dry ports in Ma'an and Mafraq, logistics cities south of Amman, new liquid and dry bulk terminals and rail links to Saudi Arabia and Syria will turn a port into a network. This guide sets out where the sector stands, the projects in the Jordan PPP project register, and the opportunities it opens as infrastructure moves towards the singularity.

1m TEU: Containers handled at Aqaba Container Terminal in 2025, up 22% on 2024, a milestone for the terminal.
$2.5bn: Investment in the Aqaba, Shidiya and Ma'an freight railway, the largest rail project in Jordan's history.
16 Mt: Phosphate and potash a year that the railway is designed to carry from the mines to the port.
1.7m TEU: Capacity the container terminal will reach after APM Terminals' expansion under the concession to 2046.

The singularity

Logistics is the circulation of the singularity

The infrastructure singularity is the point where roads, grids, ports and water networks become one connected, intelligent system, built by robotics, run by artificial intelligence and financed by tokenization. Ports and logistics are its circulation, carrying the materials, fuels and goods that every other part of the system needs.

Artificial intelligence: Schedules berths, cranes, trains and trucks together, predicts arrivals and clears cargo before it lands. AI also matches loads to empty trucks and wagons across the region.
Robotics: Automated cranes, guided vehicles and robotic warehouses move containers and parcels around the clock with fewer accidents and less energy.
Tokenization: Terminals and railways earn fees for decades. Tokenized stakes and digital trade documents let investors own a share and let cargo change hands instantly.
Autonomy: Driverless trucks on the desert highways and automated freight trains between Aqaba and Ma'an carry goods without pause.
Materials: Phosphate, potash, silica and green ammonia leave through Aqaba, so the port links Jordan's minerals and fuels to the industries of the future.

Flagship projects

The projects that lead the sector

Under way · Aqaba to Ma'an
Aqaba, Shidiya and Ma'an Railway
A US$2.5 billion, 403 km freight railway with about 55 bridges and 6 tunnels, carrying about 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash a year from the mines to the port. It is a 50:50 Jordanian and Emirati venture, ground was broken on October 5, 2026, and ownership passes to the government after the agreement term.
Under way · Aqaba
Aqaba Container Terminal Expansion
APM Terminals has run the terminal since 2006. A US$242 million expansion signed in October 2024 lifts capacity from about 1.3 million to more than 1.7 million TEU, extends the concession to 2046 and targets net-zero operations by 2040.
Under way · Aqaba
Aqaba Multipurpose Port
A 30-year concession signed in February 2026 for a port of nine berths and a 2 km quay with capacity of about 11 million tonnes a year. It is run by a joint venture in which AD Ports Group holds 70% and the Aqaba Development Corporation 30%.
Pipeline · Ma'an
Aqaba-Ma'an Dry Port and Development Zone
A dry port planned on 4,000 dunums in Ma'an as a design, build, finance, operate and transfer project, linked to the new railway by a branch of about 43 km. The master plan and studies are due by the end of 2026, with a phased target of up to one million TEU.
Tendering · Aqaba
New Bulk Liquids Terminal
A single-berth terminal at Aqaba's South Port for tankers of up to 160,000 deadweight tonnes, handling about 5 million tonnes a year of fuels, liquefied gas, ammonia and chemicals. The marine works tender closes on December 16, 2026, and an operator will invest in equipment.
Pipeline · Mafraq
Mafraq Inland Port
An inland port in the King Hussein Bin Talal Development Area near the Syrian border, approved in January 2025 after updated studies, with its scope widened to provide shipping and storage for Syria's reconstruction.

Every project

23 projects in Jordan’s pipeline

Values in US dollars; * estimated where no figure has been published. Rows in grey sit in another sector and connect to this one.

Project	Location	Stage	Value
Aqaba-Al-Shidiyeh-Ma'an Railway (Phosphate/Potash Freight)	Aqaba to the Eshidiya mines and Ma'an Lo	Under way	$2.5bn
Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) Concession & Expansion	Aqaba	Under way	$242m
Aqaba Multipurpose Port (AD Ports Concession)	Aqaba	Under way	$183m
Mafraq Inland Port	King Hussein Bin Talal Development Area,	Pipeline	$167m*
Amman Logistics and Industrial City (ALIC)	South of Amman	Pipeline	$167m*
Aqaba-Ma'an Dry Port & Development Zone	Ma'an Development Zone, Ma'an	Pipeline	$150m*
New Bulk Liquids Terminal	South Port	Tendering	$63m
Aqaba New Silica Terminal	Aqaba	Tendering	$40m*
Al-Madouna Logistics Center	Al-Madouneh	Pipeline	$27m
Aqaba New Port Passenger Terminal	Aqaba	Pipeline	$20m*
Al Quwairah International Industrial Estate (QIIE)	Al Quweira, Aqaba	Under way	$1bn
King Hussein Bridge Crossing (Redevelopment)	King Hussein Bridge	Pipeline	$200m
Sheikh Sabah LNG Terminal (Aqaba)	Aqaba	Under way	$127m
Aqaba Oil & Gas Terminal Facilities Development	Southern Industrial Zone	Tendering	$114m*
Saudi-Jordan Railway Link	Saudi border to Jordan	Pipeline	$110m*
Jaber Border Crossing Development	Jaber, Mafraq Governorate	Tendering	$100m*
Karamah Border Crossing Development	Al Karamah	Pipeline	$100m*
Commercial Services on the Al-Harraneh-Omari Toll Road	Al-Harraneh-Omari toll road	Pipeline	$40m*
Irbid Central Market	Al-Nuaimeh area, Irbid	Tendering	$32m*
Al-Durra Border Centre Rehabilitation and Expansion	Al-Durra border centre on the Jordan-Sau	Tendering	$28m
JPRC LPG Storage Spheres, South Aqaba	Aqaba	Under way	$22m
Ma'an Central Market	Al-Husainya Municipality	Pipeline	$10m*
Jordan Valley Citrus and Vegetable Processing Centre	Northern Jordan Valley	Under way	$7m

AI, robotics and tokenization

What changes for ports and logistics in Jordan

Artificial intelligence

AI lets Aqaba and the inland ports run as one system. Models can plan berths, cranes, trains and trucks together, predict ship arrivals and clear customs before cargo lands. On the new railway, AI can schedule mineral trains against ship departures, and in warehouses it can place every pallet where the next order will need it. Each hour saved lowers the cost of trade through Jordan.

What can be built

Port community system. One platform linking shipping lines, terminals, customs, trucks and railways in Aqaba, sharing every booking and clearance in real time.
Predictive customs. Risk models that clear trusted cargo before it arrives and focus inspections on the few containers that need them.
Rail and berth planning. Schedules that match mineral trains from Shidiya and Ma'an to ship arrivals, cutting stockpiles and waiting time.
Truck matching. Platforms that pair loads with empty trucks across Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, reducing empty return trips.

Robotics

Robotics makes Jordan's terminals and warehouses faster and safer. Remote-controlled and automated cranes can work the container and bulk berths around the clock, automated stacking yards can fit more containers on the same land, and robotic warehouses in the dry ports and logistics cities can pick and pack orders for regional markets. Drones and crawlers can inspect quays, jetties, tanks and rail bridges while operations continue.

What can be built

Automated cranes. Remote-operated ship-to-shore and yard cranes in Aqaba, run from a control room by a smaller, highly skilled team.
Robotic warehouses. Automated storage and picking in Ma'an, Mafraq and south Amman that ship e-commerce and reconstruction orders quickly.
Inspection drones. Drones and underwater crawlers that check quays, jetties, tanks and pipelines while the terminals keep working.
Autonomous yard trucks. Driverless tractors that move containers between berth and yard inside the port gates, day and night.

Tokenization

Terminals, railways and warehouses earn fees for decades, which suits tokenized ownership. Stakes in a dry port or a bulk terminal could let regional investors share in each tonne handled. Tokenization also changes trade itself: digital bills of lading and tokenized letters of credit let a cargo and its payment move together, cutting the days a container waits for paper in Aqaba.

What can be built

Terminal stakes. Tokenized shares in a terminal concession that pay holders from handling fees, published per tonne and per container.
Digital trade documents. Electronic bills of lading and certificates that transfer ownership of cargo instantly between buyers, banks and carriers.
Warehouse receipts. Tokens backed by goods stored in bonded warehouses, used as collateral for traders' working capital.
Rail capacity rights. Tradable rights to train slots on the freight railway, letting shippers book and resell capacity in advance.

Small PPPs and unsolicited proposals

Small PPPs and research labs

Small PPPs suit logistics, because a gate, a cold store or a digital customs lane can be installed and measured within weeks. A logistics research lab inside the Aqaba Development Corporation could run $100,000 pilots such as automated gate cameras at one terminal, a solar-powered cold room for exporters in the Jordan Valley, or a digital bill of lading trial on one shipping route, then carry the results into the large concessions.

How it works

Unsolicited proposals under Article 15

Companies in logistics see where cargo waits and where storage is missing. Under Article 15 a company could propose a truck park and services yard at a border crossing, a cold chain hub for produce exports, a rail-to-truck transfer terminal in Ma'an, bonded warehouses near the Jaber crossing for Syria's reconstruction, or a digital port community system for Aqaba, and keep the right to match the best offer at tender.

How it works

New industries

What the sector can create

01Automated terminalsRemote-controlled cranes and automated yards in Aqaba, with Jordanian teams that can operate and maintain them across the region.
02Reconstruction logisticsSupply chains that move steel, cement, equipment and food from Aqaba and the inland ports to the rebuilding of Syria and Iraq.
03Cold chainTemperature-controlled warehouses and trucks that carry Jordanian produce and medicines to the Gulf and Europe.
04Clean fuel bunkeringSupplying ships in Aqaba with green ammonia, methanol and liquefied gas as shipping moves to cleaner fuels.
05Digital tradePaperless customs, digital bills of lading and tokenized trade finance that let cargo and payments move together.
06Rail freight servicesOperating trains, terminals and wagons on the new freight network and on future links to Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Opportunities

Where partners come in

Terminal tenders: Bid for the bulk liquids terminal, the silica terminal and the next Aqaba concessions offered by the Aqaba Development Corporation.
Direct proposals: Propose a project under Article 15 of PPP Law No. 19 of 2023, such as a logistics center, a rail terminal or a truck park.
Small-scale PPPs: Regulation No. 9 of 2024 allows small-scale PPPs below about US$14.1 million, which suits cold stores, gates and inspection systems.
Dry ports and zones: Develop and run the dry ports in Ma'an and Mafraq and logistics plots in the development zones and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone.
Supply and services: Supply cranes, wagons, scanners and software to the terminals, the railway and the border crossings.
Investment and ownership: Finance terminals and railways through infrastructure funds, development banks and tokenized stakes that open ownership to more investors.

Stained-glass illustration in blue glass of a city of towers under a rising arch

The road to the singularity

2026Railway works begin; AD Ports runs the multipurpose port; bulk liquids marine works are tendered; dry port master plan completed.
2030The container terminal nears 1.7 million TEU; the bulk liquids terminal is operating; freight rail construction is well advanced.
2035Trains carry minerals to Aqaba; the Ma'an dry port runs its first phase; a rail link to Saudi Arabia is in service.
2040AI schedules ships, trains and trucks as one system; automated terminals and warehouses run around the clock.
2050Jordan is the intelligent land bridge between the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Levant and Europe, moving goods with no paper and no waiting.

Aqaba has carried Jordan's trade for generations. The projects in the Jordan PPP project register are the first steps towards a network that moves the region's goods by rail, road and sea with the speed of software.

Download the sector guide (PDF)

Guides for organizations

Launch a PPP program of your own

The guides closest to ports and logistics in Jordan, each showing one kind of organization how to launch a PPP program, with six first steps.

Operators and services
Logistics and Port Companies
Your company launches a PPP program to bid for port terminals, dry ports, logistics zones, rail freight and border-crossing concessions in public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
Read PDF
Operators and services
Maritime and Shipping Companies
Your company launches a PPP program to build and run marine terminals, ferry services, ship services, repair yards and maritime training as public-private partnerships (PPPs) at Aqaba and beyond.
Read PDF
Operators and services
Rail Companies
Your company launches a PPP program to build, equip and run freight and passenger rail lines, rail links to Aqaba’s port, rolling stock and maintenance depots as public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Read PDF
Operators and services
Delivery and Courier Companies
Your company launches a PPP program to build and run parcel lockers, delivery hubs, last-mile logistics and the delivery of public services as public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Read PDF
Developers and builders
Economic Zone and Industrial City Developers
Your zone launches its own public-private partnership (PPP) program for its power, water, waste, telecom, logistics and industrial plots, with a lab for small PPPs and an open door to proposals from tenants.
Read PDF