DP World container volumes rises 7.3%

dubai — Global ports operator DP World Limited said on Thursday it handled 17.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units across its portfolio of container terminals across the world in the first quarter of 2018, and predicted to grow ahead of the market in the coming quarters.

The Dubai-based company said gross container volumes grew by 7.3 per cent year-on-year on a reported basis, and 8.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, well ahead of Drewry Maritime’s industry estimate of 4.6 per cent global throughput growth for first quarter.

In 2017, the operator’s gross global capacity was at 88 million TEU and is expected to grow to over 100 million TEU of gross capacity by 2020.

“The first quarter witnessed a continuation of the recovery in global trade and all three regions delivered growth, especially our terminals in Europe, Middle East and Africa and Australia. The UAE continues to deliver stable growth and handled 3.8 million TEU, growing 2.9 per cent yearon-year in first quarter,” the company said in a statement.

At a consolidated level, DP World terminals handled 9.2 million TEU during the first quarter of 2018, a 6.6 per cent improvement in performance on a reported basis and up 6.8 per cent yearon-year on a like-for-like basis.

“Following a strong year for the global container market in 2017 with peak levels since 2011, our portfolio has had an encouraging start to 2018 delivering ahead-ofmarket growth. The robust performance was delivered across all three regions, which once again demonstrates that we have the relevant capacity in the right markets,” said DP World group chairman and chief executive officer Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.