Dubai Ports World recorded a decrease of 8.8% in container volumes for the second quarter, warning today, Monday, that the outlook is cloudy.
The Corona virus pandemic has closed cities and factories around the world for months, and disrupted global supply shipments and chains, while some cities are now reimposing restrictions after increasing the number of infections recently.
The operator of international ports owned by the Dubai government, which also operates logistical facilities, handled 16.7 million containers of freight in the second quarter, down from 18.3 million a year ago.
The largest quarterly decrease was recorded in the Asia Pacific and the Indian subcontinent, as volumes decreased 12.2% to reach 7.2 million containers.
"In general, we are encouraged that our activity has performed better than expected, and while the outlook remains shrouded in uncertainty, we remain positive about the fundamentals in the medium to long term for the industry," the company's chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said in a statement.
DP World said that the volumes handled in the first 6 months of the year decreased 5.3% to 33.8 million containers.