DP World container volumes grew 8 per cent in 2014

The Dubai-based ports operator said growth was driven by the Asia Pacific and India subcontinent regions as well as European and UAE terminals.

DP World’s gross container volumes grew by 8 per cent last year on a like-for-like basis across its global network of terminals compared with 2013.

The Dubai-based ports operator said growth was driven by the Asia Pacific and Indian subcontinent regions as well as its European and UAE terminals.

DP World handled 60 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), with gross container volumes growing by 8.9 per cent on a reported basis. New volume at London Gateway in the UK and Embraport in Brazil contributed to the increase.

“The opening of an additional 2 million TEU capacity in the third quarter of 2014 has alleviated constraint and will provide the capacity we need to achieve further volume growth at Jebel Ali,” said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the DP World chairman.

Mr bin Sulayem said 2 million TEU was expected to be added in the second half of this year, which would bring Jebel Ali’s capacity to 19 million TEU.

EFG Hermes expects this year’s volume growth to exceed global markets on new capacity.

“We expect strong earnings growth over our forecast horizon on volume growth and margin expansion [starting in 2016] as the contribution from high-margin locations escalates,” said the brokerage.

The US-based Journal of Commerce named Jebel Ali as the world’s most productive port. The award was based on the average moves of containers per ship and hour. Dubai’s facility led the industry with an average of 138 moves per vessel each hour, beating 483 ports around the world.

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