Global marine terminal operator DP World said it had handled 13 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units) across its portfolio of 50 operating terminals in the third quarter registering a 14 per cent increase from last year.

The port operator also witnessed a 15 per cent rise in its container volumes for the first nine months which surged to 36.7 million against comparable period last year.

Commenting on the performance, DP World chief executive officer, Mohammed Sharaf said, 'The volumes for the 28 of 50 consolidated terminals grew 8 per cent in the third quarter to 7.3 million TEU and 7 per cent for the first nine months to 20.5 million TEU.'

'Like for like volume growth for our consolidated terminals for the third quarter was 9 per cent and for the first nine months of the year was 10 per cent,' Sharaf pointed out.

Container volumes, he said, have remained strong during the third quarter of the year 'with DP World’s container volumes back in line with 2008 peak levels and with many of our regions delivering double digit growth over the third quarter last year.'

According to him, the UAE has continued to deliver improved volume growth in the third quarter, reporting an increase of 4 per cent to 3 million TEU and taking the number of containers handled in the first nine months to 8.6 million TEU or 3 per cent ahead of the prior period.

Non-container volumes in the UAE have also shown some improvement in the third quarter but year to date remain at lower levels than the same period last year, he added.

'DP World continues to handle container volumes ahead of the levels reported in 2008 reflecting how resilient our portfolio was to the global declines in 2009,' Sharaf said.

'Volume growth in the third quarter has been driven by strong growth in the Asia Pacific, Americas and Australia region as well as a continuation of returning volumes across Europe and a stabilisation of volume growth in the UAE,' he noted.

He pointed out that the company's new developments in Vallarpadam, India and Karachi, Pakistan remain on schedule to open later this year.

“The performance in the UAE is particularly pleasing. Handling three million TEU in the third quarter puts the region back in line with its busiest quarter ever at the end of 2008,' he remarked.

“The strong third quarter results in our container operations will lead to a better second half than first half of the year; however, a slightly lower contribution from non-container operations is anticipated. Despite that, we remain on track to meet full year results in line with our expectations,” Sharaf added.-TradeArabia News Service