Port operator posts strong throughput rise, but expects growth to moderate in Q4
Dubai’s DP World Limited, one of the world’s largest port operators, reported on Tuesday a strong throughput growth for the first nine months of the year.
Gross container volumes handled across the company’s terminals reached a total of 58.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) during the period, up by 11.9 percent compared to a year ago. Volumes handled during the third quarter of the year, which hit 19.8 million TEU, were up 8.1 percent year-on-year.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said the global container industry continues to show resilience, but growth rates are likely to moderate towards the end of the year.
He acknowledged that the health outbreak, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty could still hinder the global economy’s recovery.
“The near-term outlook remains positive, but we do expect growth rates to moderate in the final quarter. Furthermore, we remain mindful that the COVID-19 pandemic, continued supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty could continue to hinder global economic recovery,” Bin Sulayem said.
He noted that the 8.1 percent growth in DP World’s container volumes during the third quarter is ahead of the industry’s average growth of 6.4 percent.
“This strong performance illustrates the resilience of the global container industry, and DP World’s continued ability to outperform the market,” said Bin Sulayem.
DP World’s gross container volume growth for the third quarter was mainly driven by Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, Africa and Australia. Strong performance was reported in key locations such as Qingdao in China, Mumbai in India and Sokhna in Egypt.
In the UAE, DP World’s Jebel Ali site handled 3.4 million TEU during the third quarter, up by 0.6 percent compared to the same period last year.
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