Qatar’s ports witnessed a huge rise in cargo handling in April 2023. The ports registered a whopping 632 percent surge in livestock and 114 percent jump in cargo handling in April 2023 on year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.
“Mwani Qatar ports (Hamad Port, Doha Port, Ruwais Port) handled 249,866 tonnes of cargo in April 2023, registering a y-o-y growth of 114 percent.
Livestock, building material and RORO volumes increased by 632 percent, 15 percent and 2 percent respectively compared to April 2022,” the Mwani Qatar tweeted.
The ports of Qatar handled 103,939 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) containers, 249,866 tonnes of general and bulk cargo, 70,182 heads of livestock, 36,460 tonnes of building materials, and 8,025 vehicles in April 2023 while 228 ships docked at Qatari ports.
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.
Separately, according to QTerminals, a terminal operating company of Hamad Port, 142 vessels called at Hamad Port last month. Hamad Port handled 103,315 containers, 85,200 freight tonnes of bulk cargo, 161,026 freight tonnes of breakbulk, 7,992 vehicles and 1,301 heads of livestock in April 2023.
In March 2023, the ports also witnessed a huge rise in cargo handling as cargo and livestock throughput jumped significantly last month, when compared to the same period last year.
Cargo and livestock throughput at Mwani Qatar jumped 98 percent and 451 percent, respectively in March 2023 compared to the same period last year. RORO units and vessels saw an increase of 15 percent and 7 percent at Hamad Port, Doha Port and Ruwais Port according to Mwani Qatar.
The three ports handled 114,079 containers; 297,009 freight tonnes of general and bulk cargo; 7007 units of vehicles; 53,193 heads of livestock and 50,969 freight tonnes of building materials, while the ports received 231 vessels in March 2023.
Data from Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) showed that shipments of general and bulk cargo increased by 30 percent to 617,641 tonnes in the first quarter of this year, on an annual basis, compared to the same period last year.
It revealed a growth in livestock units, cars, equipment, and ships at rates of 161 percent, 9 percent, and 1 percent, respectively, to reach 151,907 cattle, 18,380 units, and 664 ships in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. In the same context, the data revealed the handling of 337,810 standard containers, while building and construction materials recorded a level of 134,637 tons.
Hamad Port has a uniquely-designed port control tower at a height of 110 metres, a customs inspection area for rapid cargo clearance, a ship inspection platform and multiple maritime facilities, in addition to other utilities such as storage units, mosques, rest areas, medical clinics and the offices required for port operations.
With a capacity of 7 million freight tonnes per year, Hamad Port General Cargo Terminal serves the increasing demand of domestic economy and supports trade exchange between Qatar and the world.
The General Cargo Terminal is designed to handle dry and cold storage cargo and has capacity to handle 7 million tonnes of general cargo such as machinery, steel, dry bulk, building materials, fertilisers, and petrochemicals products.
