Dubai-based marine operator DP World has registered a 7.5 per cent jump in container volumes in the first half over last year handling 28.2 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of over 60 marine terminals.

Announcing the results on Wednesday, DP World said the Asia Pacific and Indian subcontinent region was the main driver of this growth, reporting a 12.1 per cent increase in volumes which rose to 13.3 million TEU.

This strong performance was driven by growth across our terminals in Asia Pacific as well as new capacity across the region as a whole, said the company.

The volumes in the Americas and Australia region too posted a solid 6.1 per cent growth hitting 3.3 million TEU as solid growth in the Americas mitigated a more challenging environment in Australia.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region grew 3.2 per cent to hit 11.6 million TEU, it added.

Commenting on the performance, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the group chairman of DP World, said, 'Weaker trade across Europe masked the stronger performance across the rest of the region including in Jebel Ali which handled 6.6 million TEU in the first six months of the year, 7.3 per cent ahead of the same period last year.'

The like for like gross volume growth soared to 5.4 per cent in the first half compared to last year, he stated.

'Our portfolio of consolidated terminals  reported volumes of 13.6 million TEU in the first six months of the year.  Underlying  volume growth would have been 5.5 per cent when compared to the same period last year, had our five terminals in Australia not been deconsolidated from March 12, 2012,' he added.

DP World, he said, has continued to deliver a robust performance in the first six months of this year.

'This reflects the benefits of managing a superior global portfolio which is strategically diversified across emerging markets and focused on handling core import and export cargo,' Bin Sulayem noted.

Group chief executive Mohammed Sharaf said the number of containers handled across its portfolio of global ports had increased again, with 28.2 million containers handled in the first six months.

'With gross volume growth of 7.5 per cent, DP World continues to deliver growth ahead of the industry,' he observed.
 
'The global macroeconomic uncertainty seen in the first quarter has continued, and if anything, has increased through the second quarter, remarked Sharaf.

'Despite this more challenging environment, the majority of our global portfolio continues to show resilience and we remain committed to delivering an improved operational and financial performance over 2011,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service