Ports in Qatar have registered impressive growth in cargo handling in the first half of this year.
The ports handled 218,330 tonnes of building materials in January-June period of this year, compared to 177,000 tonnes in the same period last year, showing a growth of around 24 percent.
The ports received around 661,331 containers in the first half of 2019, which is around 2.5 percent more than the same period in the same period of last year, according to Mwani Qatar.
It was successful cruise season as 100,077 passengers came to Qatar from several cruise ships during the first six months of this year.
During the first six months, 1828 ships called at Hamad Port, Doha Port and Ruwais Port, making it a busy period for Qatar’s maritime sector. The ports handled 360644 tonnes of general cargo, 33,537 units of vehicles and 434,982 livestock during the period.
Along with quarterly numbers, these ports also showed strong performance during June, 2019. The ports handled 105,686 containers and 46,764 tonnes of general cargo in June.
A total of 11,230 livestock were handled during June this year, while 4984 units of vehicles were handled during the month. Total 318 docked at Qatari ports during June this year.
The strong half-yearly performance by maritime sector follows all round performance shown by the ports in the first quarter of this year.
The ports handled 110,938 tonnes of building materials during the first quarter, reflecting 37 percent growth, compared to the same quarter last year.
The ports received 321,345 containers during the first quarter of 2019, registering 3 percent increase over the same period of 2018.
The number of cruise passengers also surged as Doha Port witnessed the arrival of 89,188 passengers during the quarter, showing a massive growth of 99 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.
The ports handled 17,141 units of vehicles while 227,554 tonnes of general cargo during the first quarter. The ports handled 235,053 livestock during the quarter. A total of 958 ships called at these ports during the first quarter of 2019.
Qatar’s port delivered an impressive performance in 2018 also with all-round growth in all segments. The ports had achieved highest annual performance in containers, vessels and livestock in 2018. The ports received 4,781 vessels and handled 1.34 million containers during the year. The ports also handled 1.4m tonnes of general cargo; 71,173 vehicles; 324,248 tonnes of building materials and 957,487 heads of livestock in 2018.