DP World gross container volume growth (CVG) grew by 2.6% in the first nine months of 2018. Its reported that DP World handled just under 54 million (53.6 million) TEU’s across its global portfolio.
The UAE handled 11.3 million TEU in the first nine months of 2018. This was down 2.1% year-on-year, with 3Q 2018 volumes down 6.7% year-on-year due to the challenging micro-environment and loss of lower-margin cargo.
Although the CVG & TEU in 2018 is lower than previous years, this was expected by DP World as they predicted a downturn due to strong results in previous years. Furthermore, thanks to the unpredictability to the global trade there is a general caution in the market.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO, DP World, said: “As highlighted in our first half throughput announcement, we have seen our volume growth decelerate due to the strong prior year performance and general caution in the market given the current uncertainty in global trade.”
Furthermore, Bin Sulayem said: “In the UAE, the volume weakness in 3Q 2018 is mainly due to loss of low-margin throughput, where our focus remains on profitable cargo and, while the near-term volume outlook in Jebel Ali remains challenging, we have taken measures to maintain profitability,” he added.
DP World has recently shifted its focus to strengthening its product offering to play a greater role in the global supply chain as a trade enabler.