DP World strengthens supply chains during trade disruption

When trade across the region came under pressure, the impact was immediate. Established routes closed with little warning, freight costs climbed and the reliability that GCC businesses depend on came under real strain. For cargo owners, the concern was dealing with unpredictability and answering the question of how quickly an alternative could be found.

“When the disruption in the Gulf began, the honest response to many customer questions was: we don’t have all the answers yet, but we’ll find a way,” says Ahmad Yousef Al-Hassan, CEO and Managing Director of DP World GCC. The company activated its network across sea, road and rail and set about finding another way through.

Simplified processes

The scale of that response is measurable. DP World has now rerouted more than 350,000 TEUs through overland corridors and scaled its trucking to 2,500 truck movements a day, absorbing surging demand without leaving cargo waiting for normal trade lanes to reopen.

It shifted volumes onto rail through Jebel Ali Rail Terminal, worked with government partners to activate bonded road corridors, expanded reefer capacity to protect temperature-sensitive shipments from pharmaceuticals to perishables and offered trade finance and war risk insurance support to ease the pressure on customers.

Wherever possible, processes were simplified so customers could keep their focus on their own business while DP World managed the complexity behind the scenes.

“What made the difference was the coordination across ports, inland transport, customs and our teams on the ground — finding new routes, new modes, new tools — to keep trade flowing,” Al-Hassan says. Throughout, the direction came from customers, whose practical questions around routes, times, costs and visibility shaped every decision.

The episode also underlined a broader strength. An integrated trade and logistics platform at Jebel Ali, an end-to-end global network spanning 84 countries and genuine multimodal connectivity give DP World the depth to keep trade moving even when individual routes come under pressure. Resilience, in that sense, is about the ability to switch between modes at speed — and that flexibility is core for an economy built on trade.

The outlook is now improving, though a full return to normal will take time. For DP World, the priority has not shifted since the first day: staying close to customers, keeping capacity flexible and, as Al-Hassan puts it, “finding a way to keep trade moving.”