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DP World forecasts 10pc growth in box throughput in 2017 with new investments

DP World said it expects to achieve a 10 per cent growth in gross volumes in 2017 across its global portfolio of container terminals, after investing US$1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) to expand and diversify its business. The port operator handled a total of 63.7 million TEU in 2016

"The recovery of global trade in 2017 has been stronger than expected and we are pleased to have outperformed market growth once again. We are on course to deliver approximately 10 per cent growth in gross volumes for 2017, and look forward to continued growth in 2018," DP World group CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was quoted as saying in a report by UAE's Khaleej Times.

Last year saw the company make a series of acquisitions and open new terminals. "Notable landmarks included strengthening our partnerships in Brazil, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Somaliland, India, Egypt and Mali with a range of infrastructure investments to enable global trade and connect countries to international markets," said the CEO.

"This was coupled with a series of acquisitions such as the inclusion of Dubai Maritime City and Drydocks World to the group's operations. We have also stepped up container handling productivity at our flagship Jebel Ali port by adding 1.5 million TEU to Container Terminal 3 (T3)," he added.

In December 2017 DP World acquired an additional 66.67 per cent stake in Empresa Brasileira de Terminais Portuarios in Brazil from Odebrecht Transport, in order to take full control of Embraport. It also opened a new terminal covering an area of 7,000 square metres at Limassol port in Cyprus last year, and announced that it would develop a greenfield economic free zone in Somaliland.

Furthermore, construction of a greenfield multi-purpose port in Posorja, Ecuador is now underway. The group won a 50-year concession in 2016 from the government of Ecuador to build a facility with an annual container throughput of 750,000 TEU.