DP World first half throughput up 7.5%
Dubai's DP World, the world's third biggest port operator, reported a 7.5 percent rise in gross container volumes for the first half of this year but said uncertainty in the global economy was slowing growth of the industry, reported Reuters.
DP World, one of the more profitable assets of Dubai World , said it handled 28.2 million TEUs in the six months to June 30 compared with 26.2 million TEUs a year earlier.
"We are not seeing double-digit numbers as we saw earlier. There is some impact (of the global uncertainty) in terms of growth...but we continue to grow at a rate faster than the industry," chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan said.
Weak trade in Europe was offset by growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian subcontinent; combined volumes in those regions rose 12.1 percent to 13.3 million TEUs. The Europe, Middle East and Africa grew 3.2 percent to 11.6 million TEUs.
"The global macroeconomic uncertainty seen in the first quarter of the year has continued, and if anything, has increased through the second quarter," chief executive Mohammed Sharaf said in a statement.
The port operator was forced to hand over its 60-percent holding in Adelaide's container terminal to Flinders Port in July, after the Australian firm exercised its right to buy the stake.