DP World becomes third-largest ports operator

Dubai Ports World is now the third largest port operator in the world, thanks to new terminals and smaller decline in container handling.

London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants said that DP World handled 31.5 million containers last year, beating Holland-based APM Terminals which handled 31.1 million containers. Overall, volumes at its consolidated ports declined by 8 per cent last year.

The Dubai firm opened new ports and registered smaller decline in cargo handling which help it to overtake its rival. It has 50 terminals and 11 new developments across 31 countries, and a staff of nearly 30,000.

DP World opened new terminals in Algeria, Senegal and Vietnam last year and expanded capacity at Jebel Ali port.

DP World earned Dh2.13 billion in earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes in the first half this year.

It currently holds a 6.7 per cent global market share, just behind Hutchison Port Holdings of the British Virgin Islands, which commands 6.8 per cent of the global market. Singapore’s PSA International took the top spot worldwide, with a 9.5 per cent market share.

Last year, sea freight traffic dropped for the first time since the advent of containers in the 1960s. Ports worldwide handled 524 million TEUs, a 10 per cent decline from 2008. But while volumes in North America and Europe declined by about 15 per cent, the crisis was “hardly felt” in the Middle East and Africa, Drewry said.

Global container traffic is projected to grow at 7.2 per cent a year between last year and 2015, while Middle East capacity is slated to grow at just 3.1 per cent per year. That means utilisation rates could be about 95 per cent at Middle East and Far East ports by 2015, Drewry said.

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