Jebel Ali port

The Dubai-based marine terminal operator DP World has revealed that it handled 23.7m TEU at its 50 operating terminals in the first six months of 2010.

This represents an increase of 16 per cent compared with the same period last year and is an improvement on 2008's result, the company stated.

DP World said that volumes had reached 13.2m TEU in the first half of the year, a rise of 7 per cent, or 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

A company press release revealed: 'Volume growth across our portfolio is largely driven by terminals in Asia, which are primarily reported as joint ventures and associates, in Australia, where volumes are well ahead of 2008 levels, and the recovery of some volumes across European ports.'

The encouraging start to the year in the UAE region continued into the second quarter, the company said, with volumes of 5.5m TEU handled in the first six months, 3 per cent ahead of the same period last year.