Qatar records strong surge in cargo, livestock and building materials movement through ports in April

Qatar witnessed a robust expansion in cargo, livestock and building materials movement through its ports on an annualised basis in April this year, indicating the strong growth parameters in the domestic economy, according to official statistics.
The three ports – Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais – showed a double-digit expansion in terms of RORO (vehicles) and livestock on monthly basis in the review period, according to figures released by Mwani Qatar.
The number of ships calling on Qatar's three ports stood at 228 this April, which however was down 7.69% and 1.3% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively.
Hamad Port, which offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq and south towards Oman – saw as many as 142 vessels call on the port in the review period.
As many as 892 ships had called on three ports in the first four months of this year.
The general cargo handled through the three ports was 249,866 tonnes in April 2023, which showed a 114% surge on yearly basis, while it fell 15.86% month-on-month.
Hamad Port – whose multi-use terminal is designed to serve the supply chains for the RORO (vehicles), grains and livestock – handled 161,026 freight tonnes of breakbulk and 85,200 freight tonnes of bulk in April this year.
On a cumulative basis, the general cargo movement through the three ports amounted to 867,507 tonnes during January-April 2023.
The three ports handled 70,182 livestock heads in April 2023, which zoomed 632% on a yearly basis and 31.94% month-on-month. Hamad Port saw a total of 1,301 livestock heads pass through it.
The three ports together handled as many 222,089 livestock heads in the first four months of this year.
The three ports handled 8,025 RORO in April 2023, which registered 2.14% and 14.53% gains year-on-year and month-on-month respectively. Hamad Port alone handled 7,992 units in April 2023.
The three ports together handled as many as 26,405 vehicles during January-April.
The container handling through three ports stood at 103,939 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which fell 2.54% and 8.89% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in April 2023.
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, saw 103,315 TEUs of containers handled in the review period.
The container handling through the three ports stood at 441,749 TEUs during January-April 2023.
The container terminals have been designed to address the increasing trade volume, enhancing ease of doing business as well as supporting the achievement of economic diversification, which is one of the most important goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The building materials traffic through the three ports stood at 36,460 tonnes in April 2023, which zoomed 15.33% year-on-year but plummeted 28.47% month-on-month in the review period.
A total of 171,097 tonnes of building materials had been handled by these ports in January-April 2023.