DP World Limited said it handled 70.1 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the full year of 2017, with gross container volumes growing by 10.1% year-on-year on a reported basis and 9.7% on a like-for-like basis, as it performed well ahead of Drewry Maritimes global container throughput growth estimate of 6.0% for 2017.
According to a statement published on its website, the global portfolio grew 10.3% year-on-year in Q4 on a reported basis and 9.9% on a like-for-like basis with consistent performance across all three DP World regions and particularly strong contributions from terminals in Europe, Americas and Middle East & Africa. The UAE handled 15.4 million TEUs in 2017, up by 4.0% year-on-year, it added.
On a consolidated level, DP World said its terminals handled 36.5 million TEUs over the 12 months – a 24.7% improvement in performance on a reported basis and up 6.2% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. Additionally, consolidated volume in the Asia Pacific & Indian Subcontinent region was boosted by the consolidation of Pusan, South Korea at the end of 2016.
“Benefitting from the improved trading environment and market share gains, our global portfolio once again delivered ahead-of-market growth in 2017 and has seen strong performance across all three regions,” said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO, DP World. “Over the years, we have deployed the relevant deep-water capacity in key markets, focusing on a diversified portfolio which continues to benefit from the recovery in global trade. We are also pleased to see stable performance in the UAE as volumes continue to grow in the fourth quarter of 2017 amidst uncertainty in the region and tougher year-over-year comparables. The performance across our other terminals in the Middle East & Africa remains strong in addition to Europe and the Americas.”
He added: “As we look ahead into 2018, we expect to continue to grow ahead of the market and see increased contributions from our new developments. We continue to seek opportunities in complementary sectors in the global supply chain and will maintain capital expenditure discipline by bringing on capacity in line with demand. Given the strong volume performance of our portfolio, we are well placed to meet full year 2017 market expectations.”
