Jebel Ali terminal handled close to 25 per cent of all container cargo handled across DP World’s network of more than 60 terminals worldwide in H1 2012, the operator’s statistics show.

Overall, the company reported a throughput of 28.2 million teu, 7.5 per cent up over the same period of 2011. Jebel Ali handled 6.6 million teu, up 7.3 per cent.

Region-wise the Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent region was the main driver in DP World’s growth, reporting a 12.1 per cent increase in volumes to 13.3 million teu.

“This strong performance was driven by growth across our terminals in Asia Pacific as well as new capacity across the region as a whole,” a company spokesman said. The Americas and Australia region grew volumes by 6.1 per cent to 3.3 million teu 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 teu. Weaker trade across Europe masked the stronger performance across the rest of the region including in Jebel Ali.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman of DP World commented: “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.”

Group chief executive Mohammed Sharaf said despite the 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.”