Yilport box volumes grow 9.5% in 2017

Terminals operated by Yildirim Group subsidiary Yilport Holding handled 4.3 million TEUs of containerized cargo in 2017, and the firm expects to move 4.73 million TEUs this year, Yilport said in a statement.    Yilport Holding, the port terminal operator and logistics subsidiary of the Yildirim Group, saw throughput at its container terminals jump 9.5 percent year-over-year to 4.3 million TEUs in 2017, according to the most recent data from the company.
   Yilport said the growth was driven primarily by strong performances in its 10 container terminal operations in Turkey, Scandinavia, Iberia and Latin America, particularly in Turkey’s growing ocean trade market and in Swedish export cargo.
   In Turkey, throughput at the company’s home terminal, Yilport Gebze, increased 26 percent to 501,284 TEUs, while volumes at its Yilport Gemlik facility grew 30 percent to 474,019 TEUs.
   Boosted by strong growth in Swedish exports, as well as the absorption of certain competitor volumes during dockside labor disputes, throughput at Yilport’s Gävle Container Terminal (GCT) in Sweden and Sjursøya Container Terminal (SCT) in Norway grew a combined 14 percent year-over-year to 465,000 TEUs.
   At Yilport’s terminals in Spain and Portugal – Yilport Ferrol, Yilport Leixões, Yilport Figuera da Foz, Yilport Liscont, Yilport Sotagus, Yilport Setubal and Yilport Huelva – consolidated volumes rose 6 percent to 1.18 million TEUs in 2017. Yilport Leixões, the largest terminal in the company’s Iberian portfolio, accounted for 625,542 TEUs of the overall total, while the Liscont and Sotagus terminals in Lisbon terminals saw their respective throughputs climb 25 percent to 233,497 TEUs and 37 percent to 160,886 TEUs.
   The company’s Latin American terminals, which include the recently added Puerto Bolívar in Ecuador starting in March 2017, and the Port of Paita in Peru, handled 111,700 TEUs in 2017, a 9 percent increase from the previous year.
   Yilport also owns 50 percent stake in the Malta Freeport (MFTL) terminal, which posted equity-based volumes of 1.58 million TEUs
   In terms of general cargo, Yilport reported an overall throughput of 9.5 million tons of general cargo, 364,100 CEU of roll/on-roll/off operations, and 3.67 million cubic meters of liquid cargo volume.
   Looking ahead to this year, the company said it has “high expectations,” anticipating further volume growth of 10 percent to 4.73 million TEUs.