Saudi Express is a shipping company from Dammam to Turkey that sends household furniture, goods, cars and parcels by sea in full or shared containers, shipped from King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam or via Jeddah Islamic Port, depending on the shipping line, to Mersin, Iskenderun, Istanbul or Izmir, then delivered to Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Antalya, Trabzon and Gaziantep. A sea shipment usually takes three to five weeks from collection in Dammam, and air freight two to four days. Shared-container space starts from SAR 415 per cubic metre, a bedroom from SAR 1,110 and a 20-foot container from SAR 4,180. To arrange it, ring or WhatsApp 0560533140.
- Main method: sea freight in a container from Dammam port or via Jeddah port
- Arrival ports: Mersin, Iskenderun, Istanbul and Izmir depending on the city
- Timing: 3 to 5 weeks by sea, 2 to 4 days by air
- Containers: shared from SAR 415 per CBM; full 20-foot from SAR 4,180, 40-foot from SAR 6,500
- Furniture: bedroom from SAR 1,110, fridge from SAR 1,110
- Cars: temporary entry for residents abroad on conditions; permanent import restricted
Turkey is a popular destination for Eastern Province residents moving to study, settle or buy a home, and many ask about the right way to move their belongings. Shipping to Turkey is different from the Gulf: the main route is by sea, the container needs precise Turkish papers such as residence and a tax number, and car rules there are completely different. We choose the loading port, Dammam or Jeddah, according to the shipping line that offers the best sailing date. This guide walks you through all of it in order.
How Does a Shipment Get from Dammam to Turkey?
A shipment from Dammam reaches Turkey by sea through the Suez Canal to a Turkish port, the closest being Mersin and Iskenderun in the south; the container sails from King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam or is trucked to Jeddah Islamic Port, depending on the shipping line and sailing date.
A sailing from Dammam passes the Strait of Hormuz and goes around the Arabian Peninsula, while leaving from Jeddah shortens the voyage to the Suez Canal in exchange for a road leg inside the Kingdom, so we compare both options on every booking and pick the better one for timing and cost. We load your container at your Dammam home, and it goes on the most suitable vessel bound for Turkey from Dammam or Jeddah. This adds a few road days but avoids long waits and irregular sailings in the Gulf.
The arrival port depends on your city in Turkey: Mersin and Iskenderun suit Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay and the south; Ambarli in Istanbul suits Istanbul, Kocaeli and Sakarya; Izmir suits the west; and Gemlik is close to Bursa. We pick the port that keeps the road leg after arrival short.
| Arrival port | Nearest cities | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mersin | Mersin, Adana, Konya and Antalya | Closest Turkish port to the Red Sea |
| Iskenderun | Hatay, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras | Suits south-east Turkey |
| Ambarli (Istanbul) | Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova | Most requested destination |
| Gemlik | Bursa and surroundings | Close to Bursa |
| Izmir | Izmir and western Turkey | For the Aegean coast |
Shipping Prices from Dammam to Turkey
Shipping prices from Dammam to Turkey start from SAR 415 per cubic metre in a shared container, SAR 1,110 per bedroom, SAR 4,180 for a 20-foot container, SAR 6,500 for a 40-foot container and SAR 14 per kg by air.
For sea freight to Turkey you have two options. A full container is priced as a whole however much you put in, and suits a complete home or a home with a car. A shared container is priced only on the cubic metres your belongings occupy, and suits a room or a few pieces. Dismantling, packing and trucking to Jeddah are added, and sometimes port and clearance charges in Turkey, as agreed.
Starting prices from Dammam to Turkey:
| Service | Details | Starts from (SAR) |
|---|---|---|
| Small air parcel | Documents and light items | 138 |
| Air freight | Per kg for urgent shipments | 14 per kg |
| Shared container | Per cubic metre | 415 per CBM |
| Bedroom | Dismantled and packed in a shared container | 1,110 |
| Fridge | Shock- and moisture-proof packing | 1,110 |
| 20-foot container | One client, suits a small to medium apartment | 4,180 |
| 40-foot container | One client, suits a large home or a home with a car | 6,500 |
| Small car | In a container or on a vessel | 5,580 |
Which Container Suits You: 20-Foot or 40-Foot?
A 20-foot container holds roughly the furniture of a two-to-three-bedroom apartment; a 40-foot container takes a large home or villa, or a medium home plus a car. If your belongings fill less than half a small container, a shared container is better value. This can only be judged accurately after seeing the furniture, so send photos of every room and we will calculate the volume in cubic metres.
How Long Does Shipping from Dammam to Turkey Take?
Sea shipping from Dammam to Turkey usually takes three to five weeks from collection to delivery, and air freight two to four days to Istanbul’s airports.
Sea time has several stages: a day or two to pack and load in Dammam, two to three days by road to Jeddah, the wait for the vessel, the voyage through the Suez Canal, then clearance at the Turkish port and delivery to the city. Sailing to Mersin and Iskenderun is shorter than to Istanbul or Izmir, and a shared container may need extra days to fill in Jeddah. We give you the expected sailing date when you book.
| City in Turkey | Approximate sea time from Dammam | Usual arrival port |
|---|---|---|
| Mersin and Adana | 3 to 4 weeks | Mersin |
| Gaziantep and Hatay | 3 to 4 weeks | Iskenderun or Mersin |
| Istanbul | 4 to 5 weeks | Ambarli |
| Bursa and Yalova | 4 to 5 weeks | Gemlik or Ambarli |
| Ankara and Konya | 4 to 5 weeks | Mersin, then road |
| Izmir and Antalya | 4 to 5 weeks | Izmir or Mersin |
Documents Needed to Ship Furniture to Turkey
To ship used furniture to Turkey, a foreign national needs a passport copy, a Turkish residence or work permit, a Turkish tax number, a detailed inventory, a bill of lading in their own name and a lease of at least a year or a title deed.
- A passport copy.
- A Turkish residence or work permit.
- A Turkish tax number.
- A detailed inventory in English or Turkish.
- The ocean bill of lading in the owner’s own name.
- A lease of at least 12 months, or the title deed of the home.
- On the Saudi side: ID or iqama and a Fasah export authorisation.
A Turkish citizen returning from abroad is usually asked for proof of long residence outside Turkey, such as a certificate from the Turkish consulate, along with the inventory and a housing contract in Turkey. The key condition in every case is that the bill of lading matches the resident’s name, since a mismatch stops clearance.
Get your Turkish tax number and residence permit before the container ships; a container that arrives before these papers are ready sits in port and runs up storage charges.
Car Shipping from Dammam to Turkey
We ship cars from Dammam to Turkey in a container or on a vessel via Jeddah, with a small car from SAR 5,580, but Turkey restricts permanent import of used cars and what is usually available is temporary entry on conditions.
Turkey allows a Turkish citizen living abroad to bring in one car registered in their name on temporary import for up to two years, provided their main residence is outside Turkey, and the car may not be sold in Turkey. A foreigner may bring a car in temporarily for their permitted stay. Permanent import and Turkish registration of a used car is heavily restricted and carries a high tax cost, so we often advise selling the car in the Kingdom and buying another in Turkey. If you decide to ship, we prepare the export certificate, export plates and violations clearance with you and strap the car inside the container.
Air Freight from Dammam to Turkey
Air freight from Dammam to Turkey usually reaches Istanbul’s airports in two to four days, starts from SAR 14 per kg and suits parcels, documents, small devices and urgent goods.
With sea transit taking weeks, many people moving to Turkey fly a bag or two with what they need in the first weeks: seasonal clothes, computers and school or university papers. Air is billed on the greater of actual and volumetric weight, the latter being length, width and height in centimetres multiplied and divided by 6000, so keep large light cartons out of air freight and leave them for the container.
Shipping Methods from Dammam to Turkey
The main method is sea freight by container from Dammam or via Jeddah, followed by air for urgent items; a land route through Jordan and Syria may be available for some commercial loads depending on transit conditions at booking.
Full Container
The container is booked for you alone, loaded at your Dammam home and sealed, and opened only by Turkish customs. It suits a complete home, anyone shipping a car with their furniture and anyone who wants full privacy for their belongings.
Shared Container
Several clients’ belongings bound for Turkey share one container and you pay by the cubic metre. It suits one room, a few pieces or cartons, but it waits until the container is full, and items are sorted in Turkey before delivery.
The Land Route via Jordan and Syria
The land route between the Gulf and Turkey runs through Jordan and Syria, and transit through Syria is subject to procedures and transit requirements that can change, so we do not use it for personal furniture and only offer it for some commercial loads when available and suitable at booking.
Is Your Furniture Worth Shipping to Turkey, or Should You Buy New?
Solid wooden furniture and pieces of high or sentimental value are worth shipping to Turkey, while light, inexpensive furniture may be better replaced there, since Turkey’s furniture market is large with prices for every budget.
Turkey is one of the region’s biggest furniture makers, so we do not advise shipping everything. The practical approach is to work out the shipping cost of each large piece by cubic metre and compare it with its value and the price of a replacement there. A premium wooden bedroom, a made-to-order Arabic majlis, hand-woven rugs, antiques and good kitchenware usually deserve the trip; old sofas, particleboard desks and ageing appliances may be better sold in Dammam. We help with this comparison by pricing each category separately.
Turkish Port Charges and How to Avoid Delays
When the container reaches a Turkish port, a limited free period starts, after which daily demurrage and storage charges apply, so clearance papers must be ready before the vessel arrives.
What raises the cost of shipping to Turkey most is not the container price itself but the days it spends in port waiting for papers. This usually happens when the tax number is late, names differ between the bill of lading and the residence permit, or the inventory is unclear. Before sailing we send you a checklist of what must be ready and follow up with the broker in Turkey so your file is complete on arrival day. If you prefer, we can include clearance and delivery in Turkey in the price, so you never deal with port procedures yourself.
Packing Furniture for a Sea Container to Turkey
We pack Turkey-bound furniture to marine standard, resistant to moisture and impact, and load the container so nothing moves during the voyage.
The container goes by road, then through the cranes at Jeddah, then by sea, facing swings in temperature and humidity. We therefore wrap wood in corrugated cardboard before plastic so it does not sweat, put glass and marble in wooden crates, pack each appliance on its own and hang moisture absorbers inside. The container is loaded tightly from the back towards the doors, gaps are filled with blankets and light cartons, and every row is strapped.
Marine Insurance for Your Container to Turkey
We offer optional marine insurance on Turkey-bound containers, based on the value you declare in the inventory and covering the trip from Dammam to the arrival port or to your door, as agreed.
The trip to Turkey passes the road leg, handling at Jeddah port, the sea and the arrival port, each with its usual risks, so many clients prefer to insure the container, especially when it holds valuable furniture or a car. To keep cover clear if it is ever needed, we record the value of main pieces on the list, photograph furniture before packing and log the container seal number when it is closed in Dammam and opened in Turkey. Keep invoices for appliances and valuable pieces, as they make valuation easy.
Shipping Student Belongings to Turkish Universities
We ship belongings for students heading to Turkish universities in a shared container by the cubic metre, or by air for urgent bags, so the student pays only for their own volume.
Many young people from the Eastern Province study in Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa and elsewhere, and at the start of each academic year they need to send clothes, books, devices and some light furniture for their accommodation. The sensible plan is to fly one bag with what they need for the first weeks and send the rest in a shared container that arrives a few weeks later. We deliver to the student’s accommodation or an address they choose, with each carton numbered and marked with their name and Turkish phone number.
Prohibited Items When Shipping to Turkey
Turkey bars firearms, ammunition, narcotics, flammable materials and counterfeit goods, and medicines, radio equipment and some new electronics follow special procedures.
- Firearms, their parts, ammunition and fireworks.
- Narcotics and controlled medicines without a prescription.
- Fuel, gas cylinders and chemicals.
- Counterfeit goods and fake brands.
- Perishable food, plants and seeds without certificates.
- New electronics in commercial quantities among personal furniture.
New boxed devices, especially phones, are treated as goods by Turkish customs and may be taxed, so do not pack them among used furniture.
Turkish Cities We Deliver To
We deliver from Dammam to every major Turkish city, from Istanbul and Bursa in the north-west to Gaziantep and Hatay in the south-east.
Dammam Districts and Eastern Province Cities We Collect From
Furniture and goods bound for Turkey are collected anywhere in Dammam, Al Khobar and Dhahran, and in Qatif, Saihat, Jubail and Al-Ahsa, with the container loaded outside your home if the street allows.
In Dammam we work in Al Shati, Al Manar, Al Noor, Al Rayyan, Al Faihaa, Al Nuzha, Al Zuhur, Al Jamiyin, Taibah and King Fahd Suburb; in Al Khobar in Al Olaya, Al Thuqbah, Al Yarmouk, the Golden Belt and Al Rakah; in Dhahran in Al Doha and Al Qusur. If a street is too narrow for a container truck, we load a smaller truck and transfer to a nearby loading point. Collection is timed to suit the family, with crew and marine packing materials.
Commercial Freight from Dammam to Turkey
We ship commercial goods from Dammam to Turkey in full or shared containers via Jeddah, preparing the invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and bill of lading.
Among the most common Eastern Province exports to Turkey are permitted plastic and petrochemical products, dates and packaged food, while furniture, textiles and building materials flow the other way. A trade shipment needs a commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin, and some items need Turkish conformity or health certificates. We handle clearance on the Saudi side and work with brokers at Turkish ports to complete release and delivery.
Parcels and Cartons from Dammam to Turkey
A small air parcel starts from SAR 138 and air freight from SAR 14 per kg, while many cartons are cheaper shipped in a shared container by the cubic metre.
Students at Turkish universities and families living there regularly receive books, clothes and gifts from the Eastern Province. For a small, urgent parcel, air is the right choice; for many cartons, a shared container is cheaper despite the longer time. List each carton’s contents clearly and leave out home-cooked food, large amounts of medicine and new boxed devices.
Steps to Ship from Dammam to Turkey
Your Turkey shipment follows clear steps from the first message to delivery in your city.
- Send room photos or a list of belongings and your city in Turkey.
- We calculate the volume, suggest the container and arrival port, and send the price and timing.
- You prepare the Turkish papers: residence, tax number and housing contract.
- We come to pack to marine standard and load in Dammam, then seal the container.
- The container sails from Dammam port or via Jeddah Islamic Port to Turkey, tracked by its bill of lading.
- We arrange clearance at the Turkish port, then delivery and unloading at your home.
Tips Before Shipping Your Belongings from Dammam to Turkey
The most important tip is to have your Turkish papers ready before shipping, because a container waiting for papers in port incurs daily charges.
- Get your tax number and residence permit before shipping.
- Make sure the bill of lading is in the resident’s name.
- Do not ship your car before you know its entry regime and tax cost.
- Do not put new boxed devices among used furniture.
- Fly what you need for the first weeks.
- Choose the arrival port nearest your city to cut road transport after arrival.
To compare routes, see shipping from Saudi Arabia to Turkey and shipping from Riyadh to Turkey, and if you are also shipping to North Africa, shipping from Dammam to Morocco. Service details are on our shipping to Turkey page and under sea freight, air freight and car shipping.
