DP World handles 50M TEU in 2010

Global marine terminal operator DP World announced it handled 49.6 million TEU across its portfolio of 50 operating terminals in 28 countries in 2010, an increase of 14% against the prior year. Volumes for its consolidated terminals volume growth was 10%.

Volumes for consolidated terminals grew 9% to 27.8 million in 2010 including 7.3 million TEU handled in the fourth quarter, 12% ahead of the same quarter last year. Consolidated terminal volumes exclude contribution from Qingdao, China and Callao, Peru which became operational in 2010 and Saigon, Vietnam which became operational in Q3 2009, 28 of the company 50 terminals are consolidated for financial reporting under IFRS; note the Australia terminals will only become unconsolidated once the transaction completes, expected to be at end of Q1 2011. 3 Consolidated terminal volumes exclude contribution from Callao, Peru which became operational in 2010 and Saigon, Vietnam which became operational in Q3 2009 and exclude ATI Manila which joined the JV & Associates portfolio in Q4 2009. Volume growth for the company consolidated terminals for the fourth quarter 2010 was 9%. The UAE handled 11.6 million TEU in 2010, 4% ahead of 2009 with the fourth quarter delivering growth of 7% handling over 3 million TEU.

The performance of the region in the second half of 2010 saw a return to peak levels previously seen in 2008 with 6.1 million TEU handled in the 6 month period. Non-container volumes in the UAE showed improvement in the second half of the year, but remain at slightly lower levels for the full year when compared to the same period last year. Excluding the contribution from new terminal volumes in Qingdao, China and Callao, Peru, both of which became operational in 2010, volume growth was driven by strong performance in Australia, America and Asia Pacific Regions as well as the continuing return of volumes to the European region.

During 2010 and into the early part of 2011 the company successfully delivered two major new capacity additions; the new terminal in Callao, Peru and the major expansion of our existing terminal in Port Qasim, Karachi. In addition the company announced a strategic partnership for DP World Australia which will see it retaining 25% ownership and a management contract once the transaction completes at the end of the first quarter 2011.

Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Sharaf commented:
Handling 50 million TEU across our global portfolio is a major milestone for DP World and puts our annual throughput for 2010 well ahead of historic peak levels seen in 2008 reflecting the faster growing emerging market focus of our portfolio.
"The UAE region has gone from strength to strength during 2010 ending the year with a record second half performance. We are delighted to see the region back at 2008 levels reflecting the strong growth in both the UAE and the broader Middle East economies which our terminals support. These results reflect the continued position of Jebel Ali as the premier gateway for cargo into the Middle East. "