For Abu Dhabi Ports, this was the year when it erased the losses that had accumulated since its inception in 2009.
In a news release on Wednesday, the ports company said that it had achieved that goal ahead of schedule.
The company said its net profit rose by 140 per cent last year while there was a 90 per cent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (ebitda).
Port traffic increased as well, the company said.
In the third quarter, trade through global ports recorded an uptick. “The container throughput of major global ports increased by 2.22 per cent year-on-year and increased by 2.74 per cent quarter-on-quarter,” according to the Global Port Development report by Shanghai International Shipping Institute.
The increase was on the back of a growing appetite for iron ore and coal.
Victor Wai, a Singapore-based analyst at Drewry Shipping Consultants, said that as container volumes strengthen globally, “throughput volume is likely to pick up in the UAE as Europe and Asia trade expands”.
Abu Dhabi Ports contributed more than 3 per cent of the emirate’s non-oil GDP and 1.8 per cent of the UAE’s non-oil GDP this year.
The Chinese company Cosco Shipping Ports will operate a new container terminal in Abu Dhabi in 2018 that is expected to “significantly expand” trade between China and the Middle East.
Khalifa Port handled 5 million TEUs since its inception in December 2012. to support its expansion, the authority announced in August that it will add a 1,000-metre quay wall at the port and deepen its channel and basin to 18 metres to accommodate some of the largest container and cargo ships.
The capital’s Zayed Port will house a ship repair facility with a floating dock capability following a deal between Abu Dhabi Ports and Abu Dhabi Ship Building also in August.
The Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) this year leased 2 million square metres of land, and introduced Khalifa Port FTZ within Kizad, increasing its total free zone space to 100 million square metres.
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