Qatar ports see higher transshipment volumes in July

Qatar's maritime sector witnessed a more than 5% jump in transshipment volumes this July compared to that in June 2023, as 100,842 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and more than 166,000 tonnes of cargo were handled at Hamad, Doha and Ruwais ports, according to Mwani Qatar.As many as 226 ships had called on Qatar's three ports in July 2023, which was 14.72% higher than in June 2023. But it was down 6.22% on annualised basis, the official data has suggested.A total of 1,542 ships had called on the three ports during the first seven months of this year."The maritime sector of Qatar has undergone a significant transformation in recent years,” Mwani Qatar had said in a tweet.Hamad Port – whose strategic geographical location 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 139 vessels call on the port in the review period.The container handling through the three ports rose 5.08% month-on-month but declined 17.26% on an annualised basis in July this year.The container terminals have been designed to address the increasing trade volume, enhance ease of doing business and support economic diversification, which is one of the most vital goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.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 98,879 TEUs of containers handled this July.The container volume at the three ports stood at 733,871 TEUs during January-July 2023.The general and bulk cargo handled through the three ports stood at 166,113 tonnes in July 2023, which grew more than eight fold month-on-month and more than doubled year-on-year in the review period.Hamad Port – whose multi-use terminal is designed to serve the supply chains for the RORO (vehicles), grains and livestock – handled 95,582 freight tonnes of breakbulk and 66,900 freight tonnes of bulk in July this year.A total of 937,996 freight tonnes of general and bulk cargoes were handled by the three ports during the first seven months of this year.The three ports handled 6,044 RORO in July 2023, which registered a 19.87% and 15.81% decrease month-on-month and year-on-year respectively. Hamad Port alone handled 6,037 units in July this year.A total of 46,206 RORO units were handled by three ports during January-July 2023.The building materials traffic through the three ports stood at 35,296 tonnes in July 2023, which shrank 14.21% and 1.44% month-on-month and year-on-year respectively.As much as 309,990 tonnes of building materials were handled by Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports during the first seven months of 2023.The three ports had handled 5,468 livestock in July 2023, which showed 76.96% and 21.01% decrease on yearly and monthly basis respectively.As many as 299,499 livestock heads were handled by three ports during January-July this year.