DP World Limited handled 35.6 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first half of 2018, with gross container volumes growing by 4.8% year-on-year on a reported basis and 6.0% on a likefor-like1 basis.
The first half of 2018 continues to see an upswing in global trade and all three DP World regions delivered growth, particularly our terminals in Europe and Australia. The UAE handled 7.7 million TEU in 1H2018, remaining broadly flat (+0.2%) year-on-year.
At a consolidated2 level, our terminals handled 18.6 million TEU during the first half of 2018, a 4.0% improvement in performance on a reported basis and up 4.5% year-on-year on a like-forlike3 basis.
Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, commented: “Our portfolio has delivered an encouraging performance in the first half of 2018 with all regions continuing to deliver growth. However, as expected there has been a deceleration in the growth rate in 2Q2018 due the tougher year-on-year comparables, where 2Q2017 grew 10.7% year-onyear driven by market share gains from the new shipping alliances."
He added: “Nevertheless, the robust performance across all regions continues to be an affirmation of our strategy to deploy relevant capacity in key markets and operate a diversified portfolio. We are pleased to see our terminals in Europe and Australia continue to deliver growth and still expect to see increased contributions from our new investments in the second half of the year.
“Whilst geopolitical headwinds and recent changes in trade policies continue to pose uncertainty to the container market, first half volume performance demonstrates that our portfolio is well positioned to deliver growth. We continue to focus on delivering operational excellence and disciplined investment to remain the port operator of choice as well as strengthening our product offering to play a wider role in the global supply chain as a trade enabler,” he concluded.