Working as a shipping company from Dammam to Turkey, our Gulf International Shipping crews load household goods, cartons and stock from homes and depots across the Eastern Province, from Khobar and Dhahran to Jubail, Qatif and Hofuf, then drive them some 1,400 km west to Jeddah Islamic Port, and puts them on a northbound vessel that clears the Suez Canal and berths at Mersin roughly five days after leaving Jeddah, or continues to the Marmara ports serving Istanbul and Bursa; Turkish clearance and doorstep delivery follow. From your Eastern Province home to the Turkish address takes about 17–24 days for Mersin or Adana and 21–32 days for Istanbul, Bursa or İzmir, while an air parcel from King Fahd International Airport lands in Istanbul and is delivered within 3–5 working days. Eastern Province pricing opens at SAR 410, whether for one small parcel or one shared cubic metre; a full bedroom set is SAR 3,220 upward, a twenty-foot container all to yourself SAR 4,140 upward, and air cargo SAR 14 per kilo upward.
Most of the calls we get from the Eastern Province come from one of three kinds of customer: a Turkish family heading home after years of work in Khobar or Dhahran, an Arab resident who has secured a residence permit in Istanbul or Bursa and wants the household moved, or a business in Dammam or Jubail sending equipment and stock to a Turkish buyer. Each case has its own paperwork, packing and pricing, so this guide follows what you actually need to decide: where we collect, which port the container sails from and why, how many days your Turkish city needs, what you pay, and what Turkish customs will ask of you before the goods arrive.
In short
- Collection: Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Qatif, Saihat, Al-Ahsa and Abqaiq, straight from your home or warehouse
- Port of loading: Jeddah Islamic Port, after a road leg of about 1,400 km that adds 3–4 days
- Sailing: Jeddah to Mersin in about 5 days, Jeddah to İskenderun in about 8, Marmara and İzmir on longer services or by transshipment
- Door to door by sea: Mersin and Adana 17–24 days; Ankara, Konya and Antalya 19–26; Istanbul, Bursa and İzmir 21–32; Trabzon 24–34
- Air freight: a daily nonstop flight from Dammam to Istanbul Airport as scheduled, about 4h15 in the air, delivered within 3–5 working days
- Prices: parcel SAR 410 and up, air SAR 14/kg and up, bedroom SAR 3,220 and up, twenty-foot box SAR 4,140 and up
- Cars: eligible cars only, sealed in a container, SAR 5,060 and up with Turkish taxes extra
Route: Khobar or Dammam → ~1,400 km by truck → Jeddah quay → Suez → Mersin or Ambarlı → your door in Turkey · Time: 17–34 days by sea · Call 0568829975
Eastern Province towns our crews cover for Turkey shipments
Our crew comes to the address you give anywhere in the Eastern Province, surveys the items, packs them and loads them on the spot, so nothing has to be hauled to a depot by you. Loads differ from town to town; this is what we typically see in each:
Dammam
Family households, retail orders and warehouse consignments from the industrial city.
Khobar and Dhahran
Flats and villas of employees whose contracts are ending, appliances and the belongings of returning Turkish families.
Jubail
Industrial equipment, spare parts and project supplies, plus staff-housing furniture.
Qatif, Saihat and Safwa
Personal items, cartons and gifts for relatives, bedrooms and sitting-room sets.
Al-Ahsa and Hofuf
Commercial loads, household furniture and products that need import permits in Turkey.
Abqaiq and Ras Tanura
Staff-housing furniture and personal effects, grouped with Dammam loads on the same run.
Once packed, everything goes into a closed truck, or straight into the container if you booked a full box, and the road leg to Jeddah starts that day or the next. Small loads are grouped with other Eastern Province consignments bound for Turkey, so the road cost is split between several customers and your share drops.
Dammam port or Jeddah port: where does your Turkey shipment sail from?
It might seem natural for a Dammam load to sail from King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam itself, yet Gulf International Shipping loads every Eastern Province container for Turkey at Jeddah Islamic Port, and that is a deliberate routing choice. The first reason is geography: a ship departing a Gulf port must round the south and east of the Arabian Peninsula before reaching the mouth of the Red Sea, whereas a vessel leaving Jeddah is already on the Red Sea and reaches Suez and the Mediterranean over a far shorter distance.
The second reason is regularity. Every week a direct sailing departs Jeddah for southern Turkey, and it ties up in Mersin about 5 days out and İskenderun about 8 days out. Instead of waiting weeks for a ship to circle the peninsula, your goods spend 3–4 days on the road to Jeddah and catch the next weekly sailing. That is why we do not sell sea freight from Dammam port to Turkey, and if an advert promises it in ten days, ask for the Turkish port and the next sailing date before you pay anything.
The road leg to Jeddah is built into the price
Moving your goods from the Eastern Province to Jeddah port is already included in the starting prices on this page and is never added later. The gap between a Dammam price and a Jeddah price for the same item is that distance and nothing else.
Your shipment from Khobar to Istanbul, day by day
The table below follows a Khobar family sending its household to Istanbul in a shared container, from the moment our crew rings the doorbell to the last carton unpacked in the Turkish flat. Treat the days as a guide; what shifts them most is the weekly sailing and how quickly Turkish customs release the goods:
With Mersin or Adana as the destination the journey is about a week shorter, because the direct service gets there in 5 days and no extra inland leg is needed in Turkey. A full container in your name also cuts the consolidation wait, since the box is sealed and goes to the quay as soon as your goods fill it.
How long does shipping from Dammam to Turkey take?
Sea shipping from Dammam to Turkey takes roughly 17 to 34 days door to door. Where you fall in that range depends on three things: the Turkish city you receive in, the container type (shared or full) and the date of the next sailing from Jeddah. By city:
A shared container adds 5–7 days to these figures, because it waits in Jeddah until its load is complete. Each figure can move a day or more with the sailing date and Turkish clearance, so we review conditions on the Red Sea lane at every booking and then send you the container number, sailing date and expected arrival so you can plan the handover.
Approximate shipping prices from Dammam to Turkey
We collected the rates that Dammam firms advertise for Turkey and pitched each of our starting prices under the cheapest advertised rate for the same item. Where no Dammam firm publishes a price, we used Riyadh, the nearest city with published rates. Each figure includes packing, trucking to Jeddah and the ocean freight; it excludes the duty and tax Turkish customs levy on new items and commercial goods.
Note: a full container from Dammam reaches Mersin in 17–24 days and Istanbul in 21–32 days, a shared container adds 5–7 days, and an air parcel reaches Istanbul within 3–5 working days.
Item prices from the Eastern Province
Sending one or two pieces from the Eastern Province? Each starts at:
Eastern Province prices sit above Jeddah and Makkah for the same item because every piece travels about 1,400 km by road before it reaches the quay. A comparison for every Saudi city is on shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, and the general rules are in shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Which Turkish port serves your city?
Turkey stretches well over a thousand kilometres from east to west, so choosing the port nearest your address saves days and inland trucking. These are the ports we work with and the cities each one serves:
Antalya and Trabzon have no direct service from Jeddah. An Antalya load lands at Mersin and covers about 480 km along the coast, and a Trabzon load lands at a Marmara port and travels about 1,050 km by road. Delivery to Trabzon or Ankara therefore costs more than delivery to Mersin or Istanbul, and we state the difference in riyals in your quote before you book.
Moving a household from Khobar or Dhahran to Turkey
Furniture leaving the Eastern Province for Turkey spends two to three weeks inside a steel box, first on a hot desert highway and then at sea, so it is packed differently from a move across town. Our crew dismantles beds, wardrobes and air conditioners, then wraps each piece in several layers: bubble wrap for glossy surfaces, corrugated board for edges, tight stretch film against humidity, and timber crates around glass, marble tops and antiques. Screws and fittings go into bags numbered to match their pieces, so the Turkish crew reassembles everything without hunting.
Turkish customs care about one detail more than most: the inventory. We record the brand and serial number of every electrical appliance and photograph the list alongside the items, because the officer compares the container with the paperwork. Anything left sealed in its original box is treated in Turkey as new, so open and use such items before shipping if you are claiming the used-goods exemption.
Whose used furniture is exempt from Turkish duty?
A Turkish national moving home for good pays no duty on used household goods after living abroad for two unbroken years at least, or five of the past ten, as long as the goods are used and travel with the owner, reach Turkey no more than two months ahead of them, or follow within six months; the relocation certificate comes from the Turkish Embassy in Riyadh or its consulate in Jeddah. Arab and other foreign residents bring in used furniture when they hold a current Turkish residence or work permit, a Turkish tax ID and either a notarised lease running a year or more or a property deed; without these, temporary import against a cash deposit or bank bond is the route. New items pay customs duty and 20% VAT. We confirm every condition with our Turkish broker before loading; read more in Turkey used household goods customs and furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Trade cargo and machinery from Jubail and Dammam to Turkey
Commercial loads from the Eastern Province are priced and documented differently from furniture. Factories and warehouses in Jubail and Dammam’s industrial areas usually send machinery, spare parts, packaging materials and plastic products, and the paperwork per load is an invoice, a packing list, an origin certificate and the tax ID of whoever buys in Turkey. Turkish duty follows the tariff code of every product, and 20% VAT sits on top, both settled by the importer.
We recommend a full container (FCL) once the cargo passes about 12–14 cubic metres, because its flat rate beats paying by the metre, and the box is sealed at your Dammam warehouse and not opened until the Turkish port. Smaller consignments travel in a shared container (LCL) on wrapped wooden pallets. Food products, Al-Ahsa dates included, ship only as commercial cargo under import permits obtained by the importer in Turkey; we never put them in household shipments, because Turkish customs do not accept food there. More on trade cargo in goods shipping from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Air freight from Dammam to Istanbul
When three weeks at sea is too long, fly it. From King Fahd International there is one nonstop departure a day to Istanbul Airport as scheduled, roughly 4h10–4h25 airborne, with further services to Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian shore. Cargo rides in the aircraft hold, clears in Istanbul and reaches your address within 3–5 working days, or 4–6 working days for Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Trabzon or Bursa.
With us, flying costs SAR 14 a kilo and up, a parcel under 5 kg SAR 138 and up, and a documents envelope SAR 92 and up. Three limits apply: lithium batteries are removed before flying, household cosmetics are refused by air, and Turkey limits duty-paid post and courier parcels to 30 kg gross of non-commercial goods. Full details are on air freight from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Never pack a phone in the parcel
Turkish customs turn away any mobile phone that arrives by post or courier, duty paid or not. Keep it in your hand luggage and complete the Turkish device registration once you land.
Can you ship a car from Dammam to Turkey?
Only two kinds of owner can take a car into Turkey. First, Turkish nationals coming back after at least two years away, provided the car is a recent model (three model years at most), has carried their name on its papers since six months or more before they last arrived, and is put forward for clearance inside six months of their return; customs duty falls away, but ÖTV and VAT remain. Second, foreign residents, who may bring a car in temporarily while the permit runs. If either fits, an enclosed transporter takes the car from Dammam across to Jeddah, where it is strapped and chocked inside a container, from SAR 5,060. Full details on car shipping from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Documents required to ship from Dammam to Turkey
On the Saudi side we file the Fasah export declaration for you. On the Turkish side, the consignee name on the bill of lading must match the passport letter for letter, because any mismatch holds up clearance. Paperwork for each case is set out in Turkey used household goods customs.
Items Turkey refuses in shipments from Dammam
The main items Turkish customs reject in household shipments and parcels:
- Weapons, ammunition, explosives, fireworks and drones.
- Flammables: pressurised aerosols, paint, bleach and gas cylinders.
- Food and drink in household goods, meat products, live or dried plants and aquariums with water.
- Currency and securities, and jewellery or precious stones packed in furniture.
- Unprescribed medicines, plus cosmetics or cleaning products in bulk or still sealed.
- Mobile phones by post or courier.
Saudi export control, for its part, stops antiquities, subsidised goods and unlicensed weapons. Not sure about something? Send us a photo of it ahead of packing day.
Booking your Turkey shipment from the Eastern Province
- 1Send photos
Photograph the rooms or items, give your district in Dammam, Khobar or Al-Ahsa and your Turkish city, and send them on WhatsApp 0568829975. - 2Get the option and the price
We suggest a shared or full container or air freight, and send the cost with the next sailing from Jeddah. - 3Prepare the Turkish paperwork
Relocation certificate, or residence permit, tax number and lease, depending on your case. - 4Packing and loading day
The crew dismantles, wraps, numbers and photographs the list at your home, then loads the truck. - 5Export and sailing
We file on Fasah, move the load to Jeddah and send you the container number and sailing date. - 6Clearance and delivery
The broker at the Turkish port handles customs, then the goods reach your door and the furniture is reassembled.
What decides the cost of a Dammam–Turkey shipment?
Six things set the cost: furniture volume in cubic metres, parcel and air weight in kilos, shared versus full container, the Turkish port of arrival, how far your address lies from it, plus any add-ons like crating, insurance or storage. The road leg from the Eastern Province to Jeddah is already in the starting prices.
A worked example: a Dhahran family has 12 cubic metres of belongings. Shared, the bill starts at 12 × 410 = SAR 4,920; a dedicated twenty-foot box, which takes around 25–30 cubic metres, starts at SAR 4,140. So the dedicated box wins on price and on time, since it never waits for other cargo. With only 3–4 cubic metres, the shared container clearly wins.
Cheapest options for Dammam to Turkey
- Shared container for small loads, from SAR 410 per cubic metre.
- Full container once you pass about 10 cubic metres, as it then beats the per-metre rate.
- Leave heavy, cheap items behind, such as old mattresses and worn furniture; buying new in Turkey costs less than shipping them.
- Receive at Mersin if your home is in the south or centre: shorter sailing and less inland trucking.
- Plan early, at least a month before your contract ends, so you pick the sailing rather than paying for urgency.
Errors that cost Eastern Province senders time and money
- Trusting an advert that promises Dammam port to Istanbul in ten days with no service or sailing named.
- Leaving new appliances in their original boxes and then claiming the used-goods exemption, so duty is charged.
- Packing a phone or a new tablet in the parcel.
- Shipping furniture before the Turkish residence permit and tax number are issued, so the container sits at the port collecting storage fees.
- A consignee name on the bill of lading that differs from the passport, even by one letter.
- For returning Turkish citizens, missing the 6-month window after arrival, which forfeits the exemption.
Shipping from Turkey to Dammam
We also move goods the other way: furniture and stock from Istanbul, Mersin or Bursa to Dammam, Khobar and Al-Ahsa, by sea to Jeddah and then by road to the Eastern Province, or by air to King Fahd International Airport. Send us the description and the Turkish city for a quote.
Why Gulf International Shipping?
A clear route
You know which port your container leaves from, which Turkish port it reaches and when, before you pay.
Prices with a number
Every service has a written starting price, and the Eastern Province surcharge is explained, not hidden.
Packed for the sea
Humidity-proof layers, wooden crates for fragile pieces and the serial-numbered list Turkish customs ask for.
One number
Follow your shipment from Khobar to Istanbul on 0568829975, by phone or WhatsApp.
Price your shipment from Dammam to Turkey
Photograph what you are moving, tell us your district and destination, and the price comes back with the next sailing date.
Related Turkey guides
- Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Turkey and furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to Turkey
- By city: shipping from Riyadh to Turkey, shipping from Jeddah to Turkey, shipping from Makkah to Turkey
- Sea freight from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, air freight to Turkey, cartons and parcels to Turkey
- Shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, car shipping to Turkey, all destinations
- Furniture moving abroad, air freight, customs clearance
