The UAE’s privately-owned Gulftainer Company said throughput at its global portfolio of terminals grew 4% last year.

It said UAE throughput was up 9%, while Umm Qasr in Iraq passed the 1m teu milestone five years after it began operations in 2010.

In addition to terminals in Khorfakkan and Sharjah in the UAE and Umm Qasr, Gulftainer manages facilities in Iraq, Jeddah and Jubail in Saudi Arabia, Recife, Brazil and Canaveral in the US.

Medium-term capacity forecasts for Port Canaveral could rise to 750,000 teu from 175,000 teu if environmental clearance is given for a rail link to the rest of Florida.

“The container industry worldwide is witnessing challenges in growth volumes due to a slowdown in the Chinese and European markets,” said Flemming Dalgaard, ceo of Gulftainer

“However, Gulftainer’s success in bucking this trend with positive and robust performances across our terminals underlines our ability to adapt to market volatilities and economic fluctuations.”

Gulftainer released the growth figures without giving the specific underlying numbers involved.

“Currently handling an annual throughput of 6.5m teu, Gulftainer aims to expand its global portfolio to reach 35 terminals across five continents,” it said.

Over the next decade, Gulftainer plans to triple its throughput volumes.