Global ports operator DP World plans to add about three million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of container-handling capacity by the end of the year to help meet growing demand in key trade markets.
The company, which currently manages approximately 9 per cent of the world’s handling capacity and is among the top five global ports operators, said the addition will take its total gross capacity to 93.6 million TEUs.
Its medium-term target is to reach 100 million TEUs per year, depending on demand, Tiemen Meester, chief operating officer of ports and terminals at DP World, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We have to take a longer-term view of global economics, looking at how demand will change and how we can meet it in the most efficient way," Mr Meester said.
The capacity additions to be completed this year in key markets include Caucedo (Dominican Republic) with an additional 1.2 million TEUs, Yarimca (Turkey) with an additional 579,000 TEUs, Sokhna (Egypt) with an additional 500,000 TEUs and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) with an added 200,000 TEUs.
Other markets include Callao in Peru and Saigon in Vietnam with another 200,000 TEUs. Terminals in Luanda, Dakar, Berbera and Vancouver will each get an additional capacity of 100,000 TEUs.
The expansion plan comes as global container throughput is forecast to grow to 932 million TEUs by 2025, up from 858 million TEUs in 2021, according to maritime research and consulting services firm Drewry.
"The firm’s capacity expansion plans come at a vital time with inflation, increased cost of living and geopolitical uncertainties causing concern about global trade and fuelling demand for faster, more resilient supply chain solutions," DP World said.
As a series of crises buffet the global economy, with the Covid-19 pandemic giving way to the war in Ukraine, inflation, monetary tightening, and widespread debt distress, world trade has lost momentum, with trade growth slowing in 2022 and remaining weak into early 2023, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director of the World Trade Organisation, said in July.
"Numerous downside risks, from geopolitical tensions to potential financial instability, are clouding the medium-term outlook for both trade and overall output," she said.
World trade growth is expected to decline to 2 per cent in 2023, from 5.2 per cent in 2022, before rising to 3.7 per cent in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.
This is well below the 2000-2019 average of 4.9 per cent and reflects slowing global demand, as well as a pivot towards domestic services, the lagged effects of US dollar appreciation – which slows trade owing to the widespread invoicing of products in US dollars – and rising trade barriers, the Washington-based lender said in its latest global economic outlook in July.
Besides physical infrastructure expansion, DP World said it is also focused on digitalisation – implementing new technology and modern terminal operating systems, which will further increase capacity by automating and streamlining operations within each port, enabling greater flow of trade and more efficient processes.
DP World continues to grow its operations globally.
Maritime services provider P&O Maritime Logistics said on Tuesday it secured an exclusive towage contract with DP World in the Dominican Republic, which will increase the volume and size of vessels calling at the Port of Caucedo.
P&O Maritime Logistics will deploy three tugs to support operations at Caucedo, which has a capacity to handle up to 2.5 million TEUs, as the contract begins on December 7, it said in a statement.
"The introduction of these new tugs, equipped with market-leading capacity and capabilities, further empowers us to expand our logistics hub and enhance connectivity," Morten Johansen, chief executive of DP World Dominicana and chief operating officer of DP World Americas region, said.
“DP World considers the Dominican Republic a strategic location for continuing investment and expansion."
DP World is also expanding in Asia, where it will begin operations at Indonesia’s Belawan New Container Terminal, after finalising an agreement with the Indonesia Investment Authority and state-owned port operator Pelindo to manage the terminal and expand its capacity, it said in June.
In February, DP World won a concession to develop, operate and maintain the Tuna-Tekra mega-container terminal at Deendayal port on the West coast of India. Once complete, the terminal will handle 2.19 million TEUs a year.
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Results:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 (PA) | Group 1 US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
Winner: Goshawke, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer)
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) | Listed $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Silva, Oisin Murphy, Pia Brendt
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) | Conditions $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
Winner: Golden Jaguar, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) | Group 3 $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
Winner: Drafted, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Capezzano, Mickael Barzalona, Sandeep Jadhav
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
Winner: Oasis Charm, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Winner: Escalator, Christopher Hayes, Charlie Fellowes
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
More on Quran memorisation:
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
