Dubai: Port operator DP World handled 55 million standard shipping containers last year, a slight rise from the year before and a sign that international commerce is getting a boost from an improving global economic outlook.
The figure mirrors a broader trend in the shipping industry: Maersk Line, the largest container-shipping company in the world, said in its latest profit outlook that last year’s results should be “significantly above” those reported a year earlier. DP World, which is based in Dubai but operates ports around the globe, saw a significant uptick in volumes in the second half of the year, suggesting global trade has been improving.
Second-half volumes rose by 3.6 per cent compared with a year earlier, it said on Wednesday. Volume in the full year rose by just 0.7 per cent.
“While the macroeconomic outlook in some regions remains uncertain, we have made an encouraging start to the current year,” DP World Chief Executive Mohammad Sharaf said, adding that he was confident of meeting this year’s market expectations.
DP World’s volume growth adjusted to exclude assets it bought and sold during the year came mostly from Asia, Australia and its home terminal in the United Arab Emirates, it said. The UAE, where DP World operates Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, had its best year on record, handling 13.6 million standard containers, up 2.7 per cent on year.
Asian markets are expected to see some of the highest economic growth rates in the world this year, although DP World is also benefiting from increased production world-wide. Global GDP is expected to rise by 3.6 per cent this year, according to IMF figures, better than the estimated 2.9 per cent for 2013.
