São Paulo – DP World, the Dubai-based ports operator, handled 60 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) worldwide in 2014. The volume is up 8.9% from 2013. The data have been released by the company this Tuesday (3rd).
Higher cargo throughput at the United Kingdom’s London Gateway and at the Embraport terminal, in Santos, Brazil, helped drive up last year’s figures.
According to a press release from Embraport, which is controlled by DP World and Brazil’s Odebrecht, the Santos seaport handled 600,000 TEUs in 2014, or half its operational capacity. The press release reports that last year, over 320 vessels docked at the terminal, both on coastwise and intercoastal trips.
Average productivity was higher than 30 movements per hour per crane, one of Latin America’s highest, and the average in-terminal truck turn time was lower than 30 minutes, the best in Santos Port.
Embraport operations director Luis Turbides says the year has been one of fine-tuning processes and developing new technologies. “We invest heavily in technology and solutions that are advantageous to our clients. Ours is one of the most modern terminals in the country, and we believe volumes will start going up again in a few months,” he said, according to the company’s statement. The Embraport terminal became operational in July 2013.
For its part, DP World said in a statement that ports in the Asia-Pacific, India, Europe and the United States fuelled growth in its overall volumes. In Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port alone, DP World handled 15.2 million TEUs, up 11.8% from 2013.
“With volume growth of 8.9% in 2014 we believe we have once again outperformed the expected 2014 market growth of approximately 5%. This demonstrates that a portfolio focused on origin and destination cargo and faster growing markets continues to be the right strategy to follow. Our new developments at London Gateway and Embraport contributed to our excellent 2014 performance,” said DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, according to the statement.
Sulayem expressed optimism regarding the outlook for 2015. “Although some of our terminals continue to operate in a challenging macro environment, market conditions across the portfolio are expected to be generally favorable in 2015. This coupled with the addition of new capacity, stands us in good stead for volume growth in line or slightly ahead of the market this year,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
