DP World invested over $1 billion in global trade in 2017

January 11, 2018: Dubai- based global trade enabler; DP World had spent over $1 billion as capital expenditure in 2017. While the company looked at growing global trade opportunities, it also concentrated on diversifying its business across the supply chain and exploring smart innovation technologies in the last year. A series of acquisitions, technology tie-ups and sustainable business initiatives all formed part of DP World’s activities.

The expansion at Prince Rupert in Canada opened for business, DP World Limassol in Cyprus opened a new cruise terminal, work began on a new logistics centre in Kigali (Rwanda) and at a new terminal project in Posorja (Ecuador). Also in the Americas DP World took 100 percent ownership of Embraport in Brazil.

In Asia Pacific DP World saw consolidation of Pusan (South Korea), while in Africa DP World Berbera port (Somaliland) under a 30-year concession officially started operting.

DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said, “The recovery of global trade in 2017 has been stronger than expected and we are pleased to have outperformed market growth once again. We are on course to deliver approximately 10 percent growth in gross volumes for 2017, and look forward to continued growth in 2018.

“Notable landmarks included strengthening our partnerships in Brazil, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Somaliland, India, Egypt and Mali with a range of infrastructure investments to enable global trade and connect countries to international markets. This was coupled with a series of acquisitions such as the inclusion of Dubai Maritime City and Drydocks World to the Group’s operations, expanding our service offering to customers. We have also stepped up container handling productivity at our flagship Jebel Ali Port, by adding 1.5 million TEU to Container Terminal 3 (T3).”

Here are the highlights of DP World’s acquisitions and investments in African region. DP World and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk discussed potential uses of Tesla battery solutions for renewable energy storage in ports and terminals in the fast-growing markets of Africa, India and Latin America. DP World has celebrated its 30-year port concession for the management and development of a multi-purpose port project at Berbera, Republic of Somaliland which started on 2 March 2017.

In September, DP World Limited announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire Maritime World LLC, the 100 percent owner of Dubai Maritime City (DMC), for a purchase consideration of $ 180 million and to buy 100 percent of Drydocks World LLC (Drydocks) by means of a capital injection of $ 225 million, taking the total cash required for the acquisitions of DMC and Drydocks to $ 405 million.

DP World Limited handled 52.3 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first nine months of 2017, with gross container volumes growing by 10 percent year-on-year on a reported basis and 9.6 percent on a like-for-like basis, with the third quarter growth rates accelerating to 13.5 percent year-on-year on a reported basis and 13.3 percent on a like-for-like basis.

DP World will develop a greenfield economic free zone in Somaliland to complement the development of the Port of Berbera, which has seen record container volumes under DP World management.

In December DP World acquired an additional 66.67 percent stake in Empresa Brasileira de Terminais Portuários (Embraport) in Brazil from Odebrecht Transport. The transaction increased DP World’s shareholding to 100 percent.