DP World reports record volume growth

These figures are ahead of Drewry Maritime’s global container throughput growth estimate of 6% for the operator last year.

“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, DP World Group chairman and chief executive officer.

Stable performance

Mr Bin Sulayem put the success down the operator deploying the relevant deep-water capacity in key markets over the years, focusing on a diversified portfolio which continues to benefit from the recovery in global trade.

He pointed out that the group is achieving a stable performance in the UAE as volumes continue to grow amidst uncertainty in the region and tougher year-over-year comparables.

The performance across its other terminals in the Middle East & Africa remains strong in addition to Europe and the Americas.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, DP World’s global portfolio grew 10.3% year-on-year on a reported basis and 9.9% on a like-for-like basis with consistent performance across all three DP World regions with particularly strong contributions from its terminals in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and Africa. The UAE handled 15.4m teu in 2017 up by 4.0% year-on-year.

“As we look ahead into 2018, 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,” Mr Bin Sulayem added.