Across its global portfolio of container t[ds_preview]erminals, DP World handled 63.7 mill. twenty-foot equivalent units in the full year of 2016. Gross container volumes grew by 3.2% year-on-year. Conditions at flagship terminal Jebel Ali were challenging.
Growth on like-for-like basis was 2.2 %, which compared favourably to the industry estimated growth of 1.3% for 2016, DP World stated.
In the fourth quarter, gross reported volumes grew by 6.0% year-on- year driven by strong growth in Asia Pacific and Europe. UAE handled 3.7 mill. TEU in the fourth quarter of 2016 down marginally by 0.7% year-on-year. The Americas and Australia region delivered a broadly stable volume performance during this period, the company reported.
At a consolidated level, DP World’s terminals handled 29.2 mill. TEU during 2016, a 0.4 % improvement in performance on a reported basis and down 1.6% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis.
Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, commented: »Despite the challenging market conditions, particularly at our flagship Jebel Ali Port, our portfolio continues to deliver ahead-of-market growth, which once again demonstrates the benefits of operating a globally diversified portfolio.«
»We are pleased to see volumes stabilising in the UAE and a s we look ahead into 2017, we expect our new developments in Rotterdam (Netherlands), Nhava Sheva (India), London Gateway (United Kingdom) and Yarimca (Turkey) to drive growth in our portfolio,« he added.
According to Bin Sulayem the company will continue to maintain capital expenditure discipline by bringing capacity in line with demand, while focusing on targeting higher margin cargo, improving efficiencies and managing costs to drive profitability.
»Given the resilient volume performance of our portfolio, we are well placed to meet full year 2016 market expectations«, Bin Sulayem stated.
