"DP World": 3.7% growth in container volume in 9 months

Dubai Ports World (DP World) announced today that it has processed 53.6 million TEUs (20-foot containers) as part of its global container terminal operations for the nine-month period ended on September 30, 2018,, while the increase on the basis of the "simple comparison" was 3.7%.

According to DP World, total volumes based on the "housing comparison" decreased by 0.5% in the third quarter of this year due to the tighter comparison with the volume performance during the corresponding period of 2017 13.5% year-on-year, as well as the lowest container volumes in the UAE, which processed 11.3 million TEUs in the last nine months , registering a negative decline of 2.1% from one year to the next.

Volume handling in the third quarter of 2018 decreased by (6.7%) on an annualized basis, due to difficult macroeconomic conditions and the loss of low-margin goods.

DP World said that growth in Europe remained strong as DP World London Gateway and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, experienced strong growth in volume.

The DP World consolidated terminals processed 27.7 million TEUs in the nine months of 2018, an annual increase of 1.6% based on accounting reports, while the annual growth of standard volumes on the base of the simple comparison increased by 2.2%.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, President and CEO of DP World, said: "We have seen a slowdown in growth compared to our strong performance the previous year, due to the cautious market Light of Uncertainty in World Trade ".

Handling volume in the UAE region decreased in the third quarter of 2018 due to the loss of low margin properties, while the Group continues to focus on profitable assets.

"Although the expectations regarding the handling of volumes at the Jebel Ali port are difficult, we have taken steps to ensure the profitability of our business and, more broadly, throughout our global portfolio, we have made progress in strengthening our services to our customers, to play a more important and crucial role throughout the global supply chain as a catalyst for global commerce. "

Bin Sulayem continued to focus on operational efficiency, expense management and discipline in capital spending, in order to maintain its position as a preferred port operator.

"Despite relatively weak handling volumes in the third quarter, we are on track to meet market expectations," he said.