DP World experienced 8.9% growth in gross container volumes in 2014.
The port operator handled 60m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) across its global portfolio during the course of last year.
The UAE-headquartered company has cited record highs at Jebel Ali and robust growth in its Asia Pacific, Indian Subcontinent, and European markets as key drivers behind this growth.
“With volume growth of 8.9% in 2014, we believe we have once again outperformed the expected 2014 market growth of approximately 5%,” commented DP World’s chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
“This demonstrates that a portfolio focused on origin and destination cargo, and faster growing markets, continues to be the right strategy to follow. Our new developments at London Gateway and Embraport contributed to our excellent 2014 performance,” he added.
DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali port in Dubai, UAE, continued to account for high cargo volumes. 15.2m TEU were handled at the site during 2014, representing 11.8% year-on-year growth; 5% above that anticipated by the operator itself.
“The opening of an additional 2m TEU capacity in the third quarter of 2014 has alleviated constraint and will provide the capacity we need to achieve further volume growth at Jebel Ali,” explained Sulayem.
“A further 2m TEU is expected to come online in the second half of this year taking total Jebel Ali capacity to 19mn TEU,” he said.
At a consolidated level, DP World’s terminals handled 28.3m TEU during 2014, a 9.5% improvement in like-for-like performance. The firm has stated that its 8.7% growth rate of consolidated volumes on a reported level reflects the deconsolidation of its Hong Kong assets in June of last year.
“Given the strong volume performance in 2014, we expect to meet full-year market expectations,” said Sulayem.
“As we look ahead into 2015, we have a number of exciting developments, including new capacity on stream in the Netherlands, Turkey, India, and the United Arab Emirates, the development of a logistics hub in Belgium, and further integrated ports and logistics solutions for our customers with the completion of our Jafza acquisition.
“Although some of our terminals continue to operate in a challenging macro environment, market conditions across the portfolio are expected to be generally favourable in 2015. This, coupled with the addition of new capacity, stands us in good stead for volume growth in line [with] – or slightly ahead of – the market this year,” he concluded.
