DP World Limited’s gross container volumes grew by 8.9% on reported basis and 8.0% on a like-for-like basis during 2014, the latest figures show.
Namely, DP World handled 60 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals during 2014.
DP World said that the growth in 2014 was largely driven by the Asia Pacific and India Subcontinent region, Europe and UAE terminals.
The UAE handled 15.2 million TEU, representing growth of 11.8% for the year, whereas Europe showed a solid return to volume growth in 2014.
At a consolidated level, DP World’s terminals handled 28.3 million TEU during 2014, a 9.5% improvement in like-for-like performance. On a reported level, the growth rate of 8.7% in consolidated volumes reflects the deconsolidation of Hong Kong assets in June last year, the company explained.
“With volume growth of 8.9% in 2014 we believe we have once again outperformed the expected 2014 market growth of approximately 5%,” said DP World’s Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
“Our new developments at London Gateway and Embraport contributed to our excellent 2014 performance. Our flagship Jebel Ali port continues to reach record highs with 15.2 million TEU handled in 2014. The opening of an additional 2 million 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. A further 2 million TEU is expected to come on line in the second half of this year taking total Jebel Ali capacity to 19 million TEU.”
According to Sultan Bin Sulayem, the company is expected to meet full year market expectations given the strong volume performance in 2014.
DP World will be adding new capacity this year in The Netherlands, Turkey, India and The United Arab Emirates.
“Although some of our terminals continue to operate in a challenging macro environment, market conditions across the portfolio are expected to be generally favorable in 2015. This coupled with the addition of new capacity, stands us in good stead for volume growth in line or slightly ahead of the market this year,” he concluded.