Dubai: The Dubai owned ports and terminals operator DP World recorded 79 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) across its global network during 2022, beating the the market average for the period. Gross container volumes handled increased 1.4 per cent year-on-year, and in the final three months of 2022, DP World did 19.5 million TEU, up 2.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Jebel Ali in Dubai turned in a solid year, as did the container terminal operations in Jeddah, Angola, Sokhna (Egypt), London Gateway, Constanta (Romania), Caucedo (Dominican Republic), Posorja (Ecuador) and DP World Santos (Brazil). Plus, 'all our ports in Australia - Brisbane, Sydney, Fremantle and Melbourne - delivered a solid performance', the firm added.
For 2023, DP World is eyeing another growth round, but with hurdles such as higher inflation and interest rates as well as geopolitics in the way.
Jebel Ali handled 14.0 million TEU in 2022, up 1.7 per cent year-on-year. "We are delighted to report another solid volume performance with like-for-like growth of 2.8 per cent in 2022, which is once again ahead of industry forecast of a marginal decline of -0.5 per cent," said Sultan Bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World Group. "This outperformance continues to demonstrate that we are in the right locations and our strategy to offer integrated supply chain solutions to beneficial cargo owners is bearing fruit.
"We are pleased with the business performance in 2022 and remain focused on growing profitability while managing growth capex. The solid volume performance leaves us well placed to deliver an improved set of full-year results."
2023 chances
The volume gains moderated in the final three months of 2022 and this was anticipated, 'due to the more challenging economic environment', according to Bin Sulyaem. "We expect our portfolio to continue to deliver growth, but the outlook remains somewhat uncertain due to rising inflation, higher interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty," he added.
Growth was driven by Asia Pacific, Americas and Australia region. Encouragingly, Jebel Ali’s high margin origin and destination cargo grew by 8.6%, with overall volume growth steady at 1.7% for the year
