United Arab Emirates - Mubasher: Terminal operator and logistics company Gulftainer reported an 8% rise in container volume in 2014, reaching a total of 6.4 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) across its global portfolio.

Globally, Gulftainer’s Saudi terminals recorded significant growth, with Northern Container Terminal accounting for 1.9 million TEUs, while Jubail Container Terminal (JCT) rose 22%, exceeding 396,000 TEUs. The total volume at the Saudi terminals surpassed 2.29 million TEUs.

Gulftainer’s Umm Qasr terminal reported a 46% surge in 2014, while the Recife terminal in Brazil marked a growth in volume of 7%.

The logistics company’s UAE terminals recorded a total volume of 3.8 million TEUs in line with the all-round growth in business, Gulftainer said in a statement, adding that it saw another milestone with the Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT), which passed 400,000 TEUs in the year.

“Operations at SCT were energised by the positive growth in global trade and the arrival of new services, such as UASC’s Gulf India Service (GIS1), which now connects Sharjah with Sohar in Oman, Mundra in India and Karachi in Pakistan,” according to the statement.

The addition of this service resulted in a significant development for the emirate of Sharjah and boosted the national carrier’s volumes through SCT last year.

The company also said that it has received and commissioned new state-of-the-art Ship to Shore (STS) and Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes that will further boost overall performance and productivity. This enhanced infrastructure marks an investment exceeding $60 million.