DP World has handled 34 million TEU across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first half of 2017, building upon its first-quarter result of 16.4 million TEU.
Gross container volumes grew by 8.2% year-on-year, with second quarter growth rates accelerating to 10.7% year-on-year.
This is well ahead of the full-year container volume growth forecasted by Drewry Maritime Researcher’s senior analyst Neil Davidson, who upgraded his projection to around 4.0% from 2.8% in June.
The first half of 2017 witnessed an improvement in global trade and all three DP World regions saw growth rates accelerate in the second quarter of 2017, particularly at terminals in Europe and the Americas.
The UAE handled 7.7 million TEU in the first-half of 2017, growing 4.3% year-on-year and implying a second-quarter 2017 growth of 6.6%, giving the terminal operator more reasons to continue developing Jebel Ali Terminal 4.
Technical Paper: The Challenge of Fragmented Container Port Capacity
Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem commented: “Our portfolio has delivered ahead-of-market growth benefitting from the improved trading environment in 2017 and market share gains from the new shipping alliances, driving volumes in the second quarter.
“The robust performance was delivered across all three regions, which once again demonstrates that we have the right strategy and the relevant capacity in the key markets.
“We are pleased to see our terminals in the Americas and Europe continue to deliver growth.
“Encouragingly, UAE volumes have improved and we continue to expect our portfolio’s volume growth to outperform the market.
“Given the encouraging first half performance, we remain well placed to meet the full year 2017 market expectations.”
