Dubai’s DP World sees strong first quarter 2021 container volumes, led by India and Australia

Dubai: DP World on Thursday said it handled 18.9 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first quarter of 2021.

Gross container volumes increased by 10.2 per cent year-on-year on a reported basis and up 9.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

“This performance is ahead of expectations and illustrates the resilience of the global container industry, and DP World’s continued ability to outperform the market,” said Sultan Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World.

The first quarter witnessed a “strong” start to the year with the company’s terminals in India and Australia being the key drivers of growth, said DP World.

Dubai’s Jebel Ali (UAE) terminal handled 3.5 million TEU in the first quarter, up 2.6 per cent year-on-year.

“Trade volume growth has accelerated and our strategy of providing integrated supply chain solutions to beneficial cargo owners has allowed us to benefit from this recovery,” said DP World.

Uncertain outlook

The company said that while the near-term trading environment is positive, economic recovery can be disrupted by the pandemic, geopolitical uncertainty in some parts of the world and on-going trade war.

“We remain focused on containing costs to grow profitability, managing growth capex and continued execution of our strategy of delivering supply chain solutions to beneficial cargo owners,” said Sulayem.