MUSCAT: A remarkable 26 per cent jump in general cargo volumes handled by the Port of Salalah during the first half of this year positions it strongly to achieve its full-year throughput target of 20 million tonnes.
The General Cargo Terminal (GCT) at the port, overlooking the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean beyond, handled 11.215 million tonnes of bulk and dry cargoes during the first half of 2023, versus 8.896 million tonnes during H1 2022, entailing an increase of 26 per cent.
Major commodities handled included limestone, gypsum, cement, methanol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which were primarily exported to markets in the Middle East, East Africa and the Indian sub-continent.
“With an ambitious target of 20 million tonnes by end 2023 (a growth of 10 per cent YoY), the General Cargo business is off to a good start in the first half of 2023 with volume exceeding the Year-to-Date target by +12 per cent,” said Braik Musallam al Amri, Chairman - Salalah Port Services Co SAOG.
“The main contributions come from dry bulk and liquid bulk. The dry bulk performance is driven by strong demand in key markets in India and other Asian countries,” the official stated in the Director’s Report on the hub’s performance for the first half of the year.
Container throughput, on the other hand, dipped 11 per cent to 1.999 million TEUs during H1 2023, down from 2.241 million TEUs a year earlier.
Commenting on the outlook for the port’s Container business, the Chairman noted: “In the container segment for Salalah, the targets for 2023 for transshipment has been set at -14 per cent compared to 2022 due to the capacity constraints coming out of the Container Terminal upgrade. Looking at the first half, the overall gate volume has increased by 3 per cent over same period of 2022 whereas the laden gate volume (Export & Import full) increased by 8 per cent. We expect this trend to continue in the second half of 2023 for gate volume,” he added.
Port of Salalah reported a consolidated net profit for H1 2023 of RO 2.363 million, as compared to a profit of RO 1.418 million for the corresponding period of 2022. Consolidated EBITDA was recorded at RO 8.028 million during H1 2023, as compared to RO 6.598 million during same period last year.
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