Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports witnessed robust growth year-on-year, notably in cargoes, containers and building materials, in September 2021, reflecting the country’s buoyant trade with the rest of the world, according to the official figures.
The general cargo handled through the three ports stood at 114,388 tonnes in September 2021, which registered a 17% surge year-on-year but declined 22.96% month-on-month. On a cumulative basis, the general cargo movement through the three ports totalled 1.21mn tonnes in January-September this year.
Hamad Port alone handled 111,712 freight tonnes of break-bulk in September this year. The port features an intermodal transport network that offers direct and indirect shipping services to more than 100 destinations, facilitating efficient transportation and logistics services locally and abroad.
Its multi-use terminal is designed to serve the supply chains for the RORO, grains and livestock. It can handle 1mn tonnes of cereals and 500,000 vehicles annually as well as livestock.
Hamad Port’s strategic geographical location offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq and south towards Oman. As many as 125 vessels had called on this port in September 2021
The number of ships calling on Qatar’s three ports together stood at 297 this September, which was 8.33% lower on a yearly basis. However, it was up 7.61% month-on-month basis. As many as 2,523 ships had called on these ports during the first nine months of this year.
The container handling through the three ports stood at 128,761 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which grew 7.05% and 2.54% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in September 2021. The cumulative container handling stood at 1.2mn TEUs in January-September this year.
The Hamad Port, which is the largest eco-friendly project in the region and internationally recognised as one of the largest green ports in the world, alone saw 126,150 TEUs of containers handling in September 2021.
QTerminals has achieved 6mn TEUs and 13mn freight tonnes of non-containerised cargo at the Hamad Port since the start of operations.
The building materials handled by the three ports amounted to 41,722 tonnes in September this year, which shot up 14.82% on a yearly basis but was down 1.87% month-on-month. A total of 453,766 tonnes of building materials had been handled by these three ports during the first nine months of this year.
Various reports from the economic think tanks suggest the rebound of business activities in the non-energy private sector, especially in the construction; reflecting the strength of the diversification drives in the country.
The three ports were seen handling 32,323 livestock in September, registering a six-fold and seven-fold jump on yearly and monthly basis respectively. The ports had handled 243,587 heads during the first nine months of this year.
The three ports had handled 4,356 vehicles (RORO) in September 2021, which fell 18.93% and 36.35% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively. They together handled 56,205 vehicles during January-September this year. Hamad Port alone handled 4,238 units in September this year.
Source: Gulf Times