DP World handled 33.9m teu across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first half of 2020, with gross container volumes decreasing 5.3% year-on-year on a reported basis and down 3.9% on a life-for-like basis.
Its terminals handled 20m teu on a consolidated level during the first half of 2020, increasing 2.4% on a reported basis and down 5.4% on a like-for-like basis.
The consolidation of Australia, Caucedo (Dominic Republic), acquisition of container terminals in Chile and commencement of operations at DP World Posorja (Ecuador) helped boost consolidated volumes.
COVID-19 and the loss of lower-margin cargo caused a 6.8% year-on-year decrease at Jebel Ali in the UAE which handled a total of 6.7m teu in the first half of the year.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Like most industries, the maritime and logistics sector is going through an unprecedented and challenging period due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“As a result, our portfolio has seen volumes weaken by 7.9% in the second quarter of 2020 and 3.9% in the first half of 2020. However, this compares favourably against an estimated industry decline of 15% in the second quarter of 2020 and 10% in the first half.”
Gross volumes for DP World’s facilities in Asia Pacific & Indian Subcontinent dropped 9% like-for-like to 14.7m teu, with Europe, Middle East and Africa volumes falling 4.3% to 14.4m teu in the first half of the year.
DP World’s ports across the world have remained operational and the company aims to ensure essential and critical cargo keeps moving throughout the pandemic.
Thanks to DP World’s investment in digital technology and automation it has managed to face only minimal disruption at its location.
Sulayem added: “Overall, we are encouraged that our business has performed better than expected and, while the outlook is still uncertain, we remain positive on the medium to long-term fundamentals of the industry.”
