Speaking at MEED’s Port Development Conference in Dubai on 2 February, Wajdi said the company’s other developments in Dubai and abroad remain under review as the business absorbs the impact of the economic downturn in 2009.

“We have to watch our expansion very carefully given the circumstances around the world,” he said.

Container throughput at Jebel Ali and around the region is expected to slip into single figures this year. “We will not see double digit growth this year,” he said.

The new terminal will add 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to the port, bringing total capacity to 14 million TEUs. Jebel Ali had throughput of 12 million TEUs last year, an increase of 12 per cent year-on-year.

DP World announced in late January that Terminal 3 at Jebel Ali was to be suspended.