The growth in gross volumes reflects new contributions from London Gateway in the UK and Brazil's Embraport. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the new capacity, volumes rose 10.5%.
Europe showed signs of growth, but growth was led by Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern terminals with the the UAE alone reporting 17.5% growth to 3.6m teu.
"As anticipated, we have seen a return to volume growth in 2014 due to the addition of new capacity and a pick-up in global trade in the first quarter," Sulayem stated.
"We are encouraged by the volumes handled at our flagship Jebel Ali port, with the 1m teu expansion of Jebel Ali's Terminal 2 contributing to the strong result. The addition of 4m teu capacity with Terminal 3 opening this year will ensure we are well placed to handle future capacity demands in Dubai."
DP World's other major developments in India and the Netherlands remain on track and the group recently started construction at its Turkish terminal at Yarimca where 0.8m teu capacity will be added by 2H 2015.
For DP World's owned terminals, volumes grew 9.1% to 6.7m teu, a 12.8% like for like growth when accounting for capacity divested in Asia and added in London last year.
"Overall, we are very pleased by the portfolio's first quarter performance which shows we have the right capacity in the right locations. Despite a solid start to the year, macro-economic conditions across some locations remain uncertain, however, we believe we are well positioned to outperform the market which is forecast to grow at approximately 5% in 2014."
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
