Dubai-based port operator DP World handled 23.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) across all its ports during the first six months of 2010, an increase of 16 per cent on the first half of 2009.

The company’s ports in the UAE handled 5.5 million TEUs in the first six months of 2010, which reflects a three per cent increase when compared to the same period of the previous year.

The firm says that the growth in volume is mainly driven by its terminals in Asia where the company has a series of joint venture and associate terminals.

Australian terminals also enjoyed strong growth, with volumes currently ahead of levels seen in 2008 before the onset of the global economic downturn.

DP World’s new development at Callao in Peru opened in the second quarter of the year and new terminals at Vallarpadam in India and Karachi in Pakistan are scheduled to open later in 2010.

In June the company said it was postponing plans to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange until a merger of Dubai’s two exchanges is complete (MEED 28:6:10).

DP World currently operates 50 ports worldwide.