Dubai : In the first six months of the calendar year (January-June 2012), DP World handled 28.2 million TEUs across its global portfolio of over 60 terminals, 7.5 per cent more than the same period last year. Gross volume growth was 5.4 per cent, said an official communiqué.

 The Asia-Pacific and the Indian Subcontinent regions were the main drivers of this growth, reporting a 12.1 per cent increase in volumes to 13.3 million TEUs. Another factor was new capacity across the region as a whole. The Americas and Australia region grew volumes by 6.1 per cent to3.3 million TEUs as solid growth in the Americas mitigated a more challenging environment in Australia.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region grew 3.2 per cent to 11.6 million TEUs. Weaker trade across Europe masked the stronger performance across the rest of the region including in Jebel Ali, UAE, which handled 6.6 million TEUs in the first six months of the year, 7.3 per cent more than the same period last year.

DP World's portfolio of consolidated terminals reported volumes of 13.6 million TEUs in the first six months of the year.  

Underlying volume growth would have been 5.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, had its five terminals in Australia not been deconsolidated from March 2011, the release pointed out.

 Mr Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman of DP World, said: "DP World has continued to deliver a robust performance in the first six months of this year. This reflects the benefits of managing a superior global portfolio which is strategically diversified across emerging markets and focused on handling core import and export cargo."

 Commented Group Chief Executive, Mr Mohammed Sharaf: "The number of containers handled across our portfolio of global ports has increased again, with 28.2 million containers handled in the first six months of the year. With gross volume growth of 7.5 per cent, DP World continues to deliver growth ahead of the industry.

 "The global macroeconomic uncertainty seen in the first quarter of the year has continued, and if anything, has increased through the second quarter. Despite this more challenging environment, the majority of our global portfolio continues to show resilience and we remain committed to delivering an improved operational and financial performance over 2011", according to the sources.