Dubai: DP World handed 14.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the first quarter of 2014 across its global portfolio of container volumes, marking a 10.5 per cent year-on-year growth, the ports operator said in a statement on Monday.
It added that gross volumes grew by 11.6 per cent on a reported basis as new volumes from London Gateway and Embraport in Brazil contributed to the portfolio.
“First-quarter growth was largely driven by an improved performance from our Asia Pacific, India and UAE terminals, with Europe continuing to show signs of improvement. The UAE delivered a very strong quarter handling 3.6 million TEU, representing growth of 17 per cent,” stated DP World chairman Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem.
At a consolidated level, meanwhile, DP World’s terminals handled 6.8 million TEUs during the first quarter, a reported level growth of 9.1 per cent due to the divestment in its Hong Kong CT3 asset in March last year.
“As anticipated, we have seen a return to volume growth in 2014 due to the addition of new capacity and a pick-up in global trade in the first quarter. We are encouraged by the volumes handled at our flagship Jebel Ali port, with the 1 million TEU expansion of Jebel Ali’s Terminal 2 contributing to the strong result. The addition of [a] 4 million TEU capacity with Terminal 3 opening this year will ensure we are well placed to handle future capacity demands in Dubai,” Bin Sulayem stated.
DP World recently started construction at Yarimca in Turkey where it aims to add 800,000 TEU to capacity in the second half of 2015.
