DP World, the world’s third-largest port operator, said it is confident of exceeding industry growth predicted to reach about 5 percent in 2014 as it adds capacity and global trade picks up.
First-half throughput grew 9.3 percent on a like-for-like basis to 29.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units across its group of container terminals, it said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai today. On a reported basis, gross volumes grew about 11 percent, driven by new volume at its U.K. operations and the Embraport terminal in Brazil.
DP World will continue to focus on driving profitability by targeting higher-margin throughput and containing costs, it said. Growth in the first half was driven mainly by Asia Pacific, India, Europe and the United Arab Emirates terminals, the company said. It will increase capacity at its Jebel Ali port in the UAE as it adds four million TEU capacity this year, taking the total to 19 million TEU.
“We have seen a return to healthy volume growth in 2014 due to the addition of new capacity and a pick-up in global trade,” said DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
This month, the Djibouti government said it rescinded the company’s concession at Doraleh Container Terminal after syaing it found evidence of corruption and has begun arbitration proceedings. DP World, which denies the allegations, will continue to manage the terminal pending arbitration.-Bloomberg
