DP World Limited has announced the company handled 46.5m TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals during the first nine months of 2015, with gross container volumes growing by 3.2% on a like-for-like basis. On a reported basis gross volumes grew by 3.7%.
Growth in the nine months was largely driven by Europe and UAE terminals with the UAE handling 11.9m TEU, representing growth of 4.0%. The Indian subcontinent delivered an improved performance as it benefitted from the recent capacity addition at Nhava Sheva, India. Performance in the Americas remained challenging which the company stated was due to continued weak economic conditions.
DP World’s portfolio of consolidated terminals handled 21.9m TEU during the first nine months of 2015, a 3.2% improvement when compared with the same period last year. On a like-for-like basis, consolidated volumes increased 2.5%.
Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem commented, ‘‘Overall, we are pleased with the first nine months volume performance particularly given the difficult macro environment. We remain confident about the long-term outlook of our industry and continue to invest to meet the future capacity requirements of our customers,” adding “Our new developments in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Nhava Sheva (India) are now operational whilst Yarimca (Turkey) and the second phase of terminal three (T3) Jebel Ali (UAE) are due to come online in the near future. Additionally, we closed the acquisition of Fairview Terminal in Canada in August 2015. We look forward to this new capacity aiding volume growth in 2016”.