DP World’s container volumes rise to 79m TEU in 2022

DP World Limited handled 79 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in 2022, with gross container volumes increasing by 1.4 percent year-on-year on a reported basis and up 2.8 percent on a like-for-like basis, the company said in a statement.

In the fourth quarter of last year alone the global ports operator handled 19.5 million TEU, up 2.4 percent on a like-for-like basis.

Gross volume growth was broad-based last year, with Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Australia, and Americas regions all delivering growth.

At an asset level, Jebel Ali (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Angola (Angola), Sokhna (Egypt), London Gateway (UK), Constanta (Romania), Caucedo (Dominican Republic), Posorja (Ecuador), DP World Santos (Brazil) and all ports in Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, Fremantle and Melbourne) delivered a solid performance, the company said. 

Jebel Ali handled 14 million TEU in 2022, up 1.7 percent year-on-year.

At a consolidated level, DP World terminals handled 46.1 million TEU in 2022, increasing 1.5 percent on a reported basis and up 0.7 percent year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. 

DP World group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said: “Growth was driven by Asia Pacific, Americas and Australia regions. Encouragingly, Jebel Ali’s high-margin origin and destination cargo grew by 8.6 percent, with overall volume growth steady at 1.7 percent for the year.” 

However, he added that growth rates moderated in the final quarter of 2022 due to the more challenging economic environment.

Looking ahead to 2023, bin Sulayem said he expects the company’s portfolio to continue to deliver growth, although he cautioned that the outlook remains “somewhat uncertain” due to rising inflation, higher interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty.