As per the companies, the port development will improve berth productivity, helping the latter to accommodate Newcastlemax dry bulk vessels. The capability upgrade will also allow the EGA, the UAE aluminium producer, to transport 15%–20% more cargo than the Capesize vessels currently calling at EGA’s berth.

Upon completion of the planned works by August 2028, the upgraded berth is expected to support the handling of approximately eight million tonnes of bulk cargo annually.

The project, eyeing completion by August 2028, will also enhance operational flexibility by enabling the installation of additional unloader facilities.

“In addition, the enhancement programme includes upgrades to the existing capping beam, the installation of new bollards and fenders, the extension of crane beams and foundations, the provision of additional utility connections, and dredging works. Collectively, these enhancements will facilitate the safe and efficient accommodation of larger vessel classes while supporting the anticipated increase in future bulk-handling volumes,” AD Ports Group and EGA jointly announced.

Saif Al Mazrouei, Chief Executive Officer – Ports Cluster at AD Ports Group, said, ‘This agreement underscores our commitment to investing in world-class port infrastructure that supports the continued growth of the UAE’s industrial and trade sectors. ‘ It also reinforces our strategic partnership with Emirates Global Aluminium, a global leader in premium aluminium and one of the nation’s most important industrial champions. Through collaborative, long-term investment, we are enhancing the capabilities of critical trade infrastructure while enabling our partners to grow and compete more effectively on the global stage. Such partnerships remain central to AD Ports Group’s strategy and continue to support our profitable growth as a leading trade enabler across global markets.”

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, chief executive officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, remarked, ‘Khalifa Port is a strategic gateway for EGA’s global operations. This collaboration with AD Ports Group will strengthen long-term capacity, efficiency, and performance of our dedicated berth at Khalifa Port, ensuring the safe and reliable handling of the raw materials essential to our operations. The project will further strengthen our ability to produce the high-quality aluminium that enables modern life and supports industries around the world.”

This collaboration builds on the longstanding strategic partnership between AD Ports Group and EGA and reflects their shared focus on operational excellence, infrastructure resilience, and sustainable industrial growth.

Khalifa Port, ranked 39th in the prestigious Lloyd’s List Top 100 Ports for 2025, is also a regional container hub for three of the world’s largest shipping lines – CMA CGM, COSCO, and MSC. The facility also serves as a technologically advanced maritime gateway to Abu Dhabi, providing seamless multimodal access to Khalifa Economic Zones – Abu Dhabi (KEZAD), the Middle East’s largest integrated system of economic cities and free zones, apart from extending inland connectivity across the UAE and wider Gulf region through the dry ports of Al Faya and Al Ain.

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The occasion was the 100th anniversary of World Trade Week, a civic tradition that began in 1926, and has since grown into an international observance marking the role of trade in economic life.

The tours departed from the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade, near Banning’s Landing Community Centre, and the event was designed to be accessible rather than ceremonial.

To anyone outside the logistics industry, a port birthday celebration might seem like pleasant, local colour with limited relevance beyond the harbour. That reading underestimates what Los Angeles actually is in the structure of global trade.

The Port of Los Angeles, alongside its neighbour, the Port of Long Beach, forms the San Pedro Bay port complex, which handles more containerised cargo than any other port in the Western hemisphere.

Roughly 40% of all containerised imports entering the United States pass through this gateway. When labour disputes, storms, or congestion slow operations here, retailers across the country feel the impact within weeks.

The centennial comes at a moment when American ports are under more scrutiny than they have faced in decades. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed severe vulnerabilities in port infrastructure, including congestion so severe that hundreds of ships anchored offshore waiting for berths.

Since then, federal investment in port modernisation has increased, but the debates around capacity, automation, labour agreements, and environmental impact have not gone away.

The tour format was a deliberate choice. Ports are often invisible to the communities that live beside them, despite being the source of significant local employment and, frequently, significant local pollution.

By inviting residents onto the water to see terminals, cranes, and vessels at close range, the port is doing something strategically important: it is building the public goodwill that major infrastructure projects require to survive planning processes, environmental reviews, and political cycles.

The geopolitical context gives the anniversary added resonance. The United States and China are in the middle of a prolonged and escalating trade dispute. Tariffs introduced or expanded under successive administrations have reshaped trans-Pacific cargo flows.

Some importers have front-loaded shipments before new tariffs take effect; others have shifted sourcing to Vietnam, India, or Mexico. The Port of Los Angeles sits directly in the path of all these adjustments, absorbing the volume swings and routing changes that follow every new trade policy announcement from Washington or Beijing.

A port that processes nearly half of America’s containerised imports is not simply a logistics hub. It is a geopolitical instrument. Its throughput figures are read as indicators of consumer demand, trade policy impact, and the health of bilateral commercial relationships. When volumes at Los Angeles rise or fall sharply, analysts and policymakers take note.

The centennial of World Trade Week is, in that sense, a moment to take stock of what a century of organised trade advocacy has produced.

In 1926, the idea that a country’s prosperity was inseparable from its ability to move goods across borders efficiently was not universally accepted.

In 2026, with supply chains stretching across dozens of countries and billions of dollars of cargo moving through a single port every week, it is simply a fact.

The boat tours are modest. The infrastructure they show off is anything but.

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“Many climate-related issues are wreaking havoc on the industry, with recent examples including severe water level drops in the Mississippi River and supply chain interruptions in the Panama Canal,” the North Carolina-based non-profit organisation noted in its study.

“The change in climate impacts the overall productivity of a vessel; the routes are affected, resulting in changes in plans and cargo losses,” it stated further, as it predicted another loss figure of up to USD 25 billion a year by 2100 due to the damage and disruption caused by ports alone.

The shipping sector has reportedly been sluggish of late, when it comes to cutting carbon emissions. Although Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk has been using Green methanol to power its container ships, the fuel’s high price and restricted supply have hampered the transformation process.

Worldwide Greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector, as of November 2023, are around 3%. The RTI International’s findings come at a time when the sector has committed to acquiring net-zero emissions by 2050, with experts asking for the implementation of vigorous measures to meet the targets set forth in the Paris Agreement.

The agreement was adopted at the 80th meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), conducted in the earlier half of 2023. The pact united all 175 member states in a common objective, which was to ensure “a just and equitable transition to a 20-30% reduction in shipping emissions by 2030, progressing to a 70-80% reduction by 2040.”

The roadmap involves setting robust interim emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2040, apart from committing to a lifecycle approach for assessing emissions to avoid shifting emissions from sea to land, specifying a clear and rapid timeline for adopting and applying binding regulatory measures and last but not the least, making a commitment that shipping industry’s green transition will be just and equitable, and leave no one behind.

“Over the next seven years, the 2030 target will be met by transitioning 5-10% of marine fuels to zero-emission alternatives, in alignment with the Climate Champions 2030 Shipping Breakthrough. Additionally, all ships being ordered from now on must be capable of running on zero-emission fuels by 2040 if they are to be useful for their full lifespan. Global mandatory measures and regulations will enter into force in 2027, consisting of a global GHG fuel standard and an economic measure that sets a price on GHG emissions based on the full lifecycle emissions,” the pact read.

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Costs for transporting energy are rising as a lack of ships to transport necessary fuels this winter as a result of Europe’s rush for supply.

As the conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end, ships are transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), diesel, and crude oil to Europe from farther afield than usual to replace Russian energy supplies.

According to maritime experts, this is keeping vessels busy for longer and delaying their return to service, which has caused an increase in international freight prices.

During this time of year, liquefied natural gas freight prices are high and on pace to surpass the winter peak of the previous year.

According to data from the Baltic Exchange, shipping a cargo of United States oil to China now costs more than it did in 2020, and sending a cargo of naphtha petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East to Japan now costs more than two times as much as it did in March.

According to traders and shipowners, the shortage of ships poses a threat to Asian economies that buy oil and gas from the United States because it may be challenging for them to obtain spare cargo quickly if the winter turns extremely cold.

Even shipments of petrochemical feedstock are becoming more costly to transport, adding to the pressure on purchasers already struggling with sluggish demand for chemicals as the rate of manufacturing slows.

According to Oystein Kalleklev, chief executive officer of shipowner Flex LNG Management AS, there are very few liquefied natural gas ships available for lease through the winter, and only for brief excursions.

Oystein Kalleklev pointed out that shipowners are demanding their ships back because their fleet has been fully booked and they need them to be ready for when the Freeport LNG export plant starts up again.

After a fire at the Freeport facility in Texas in June disrupted a sizable chunk of United States LNG exports, the facility is expected to resume operations in November.

Energy firms are refusing to release liquefied natural gas ships as they usually do at the end of summer because firms are booking vessels for the winter season much earlier than usual.

According to traders and shipbrokers, petroleum tankers bought at lower freight rates are being retained on rent, sometimes consuming additional fuel to travel between Singapore and Malaysia for the sole purpose of keeping the boats.

To ensure supplies in the competitive market, dealers are refuelling ships at sea with natural gas and petroleum fuels.

Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said, “What we’ve seen in shipping this year has been remarkable as a result of the war in Ukraine.”

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The new park is part of DP World’s ongoing £40 million investment to take the port at Southampton to the next level as a smart logistics hub – which will provide customers with speed, security, reliability and flexibility.

Ernst Schulze, UK chief executive of DP World told the media, “We now have 25 percent more storage capacity at Southampton than before which will enable us to maintain productivity and service levels for the vital next few months and beyond.

“Operating two ports at Southampton and London Gateway means that we offer unrivalled flexibility and choice to customers. Volumes can be switched quickly and easily between locations, giving customers more control over their supply chains and increasing security of supply for critical goods coming into the UK. No other logistics business can offer this level of flexibility and certainty.”

DP World’s plan to invest around £40 million to improve its container terminal at Southampton, which is Britain’s second-largest container terminal, was announced earlier this year.

The funding will be used for dredging and widening of the berths to accommodate the world’s biggest ships in the world. The deep-water port was awarded Freeport status by the UK government in March.

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China Communications Construction Company built the Lamu Port, and it is a part of Kenya’s plan to become the central trade hub in East Africa. The port can handle larger vessels with a carrying capacity that ranged from 12,000 to 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, presided over the operations of the first berth of the new deep-water port and witnessed the docking of the first two vessels, MV Cap Caramel and MV Seago Bremerhvel, operated by Maersk. He then addressed the media and said that the new port would place Kenya’s economy on the continent and globally contribute towards the nation’s recovery post-Covid-19.

He further pointed out that the Lamu Port is strategically located at the convergence of significant shipping routes. Its operationalisation will open up northern Kenya to international and eventually fortify Kenya’s position as a preferred economic gateway to Africa. The port has the potential to become a premier transhipment hub for cargoes destined for the continent.

Kenyatta concluded by saying that the Lamu Port reflects the boldness and clarity of vision that Kenya holds. It strives to become a prosperous and newly industrialised, middle-income country by 2030. When completed, the $2.86 billion will have 32 berths and 29 out of it will be financed by the private sector, making Lamu Port the largest seaport in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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The pandemic has jeopardised the segment causing an unexpected surge and downfall in tonne-miles per day in 2020. Furthermore, the tonne-mile per day in the Scandinavia/Baltic to China Sea route surged 362m tonne-mile per day (tmpd) in 2019 to 843m tmpd.

Routes from South America to Asia also witnessed a surge last year to 757m tmpd and another route from west Africa to Asia witnessed a 441m tmpd surge. 

Poten & Partners told the media, “The collapse in European oil demand as a result of Covid-19 pushed record volumes of North Sea crude and fuel oil to Asia and the long distance of this voyage amplified the impact on tonne-mile demand. The increases from South America primarily originated in Brazil and Venezuela and were destined for Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea among others. Another growth area was Southeast Asia to the China Sea, which, combined with the earlier point seems to indicate that a significant portion of the crude moved from Brazil and Venezuela was transhipped to Southeast Asia and ultimately ended up in China.”

The reports indicated that the tonne-mile demand record only 11 percent slump in direct route from South America to the China Sea.

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The financial details of this deal are not yet disclosed.

With regard to the acquisition, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief
executive officer at DP World told the media, "Transworld Feeders and Avana are both
strong and well-known brands that handle approximately 1.2mn TEU per annum and
operate in fast-growing markets. Our Unifeeder ISC (Indian Subcontinent) platform will
continue to operate an asset-light, independent common-user platform, as we continue
to build the Unifeeder brand, which is best known for efficient connectivity, flexibility,
and reliability.”

DP World acquired a 60 percent stake in South Korea-based logistic firm Unico
Logistics.

The deal for DP World to acquire its stake in Unico Logistics is expected to be completed
in the fourth quarter of this year, according to DP World.

In the last couple of years, DP World has been committed to increase its presence in the
freight forwarding and logistics sector.

In this regard, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem earlier told the media, “DP World’s vision is to
become the leading end-to-end supply chain solutions provider. By integrating Unico
into our worldwide network we will be able to offer better service to our customers in
South Korea and beyond.”

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The extension will increase the terminal’s capacity to 500,000 TEUs per year, according to the Dubai Port Company.

DP World tweeted, “We have just completed a 400m quay and a new extension at Berbera Port, Somaliland. Once operational, it will increase the terminal’s capacity by 500,000 TEUs per year and will further strengthen Berbera as a major regional trade hub servicing the Horn of Africa.”

So far, DP World has invested $442 million for the expansion of the Berbera port.

With regard to the extension of the Berbera Port, Vice president Abdirahman Abdilahi told the media, “As Deputy President of Somaliland and on behalf of the people, words can’t express my great excitement about the nearing completion of the Berbera port expansion. my gratitude goes to the Sheikhs of the UAE and the DP World.”

According to reports in the media, DP World is set to open its first logistics centre in the district of Duran in Ecuador. Around 90 percent of the developmental work of DP World’s logistics centre in Ecuador has been completed so far.

The centre will offer services to the entire foreign trade chain in Ecuador, in Posorja and the other port terminals in Guayaquil.

With regard to the new logistics centre, Nicolas Gauthier, chief executive officer at DP World in Ecuador told the media, “The work done so far is a source of pride for all the teams that have achieved this milestone despite the unprecedented challenges. The development of this logistics centre ratifies DP World’s commitment to Ecuador.”

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Richard Ballantyne, chief executive at the British Ports Association, told the media, “These are helpful measures designed to ease the new borders requirements which come into force next year. We are particularly grateful that the Government has listened and agreed to our requests to pay for new infrastructure both at ports and at inland sites. We look forward to reviewing the detail but this is an important first step to help limit the impacts of Britain’s departure from the EU.”

Furthermore, the British Ports Association said that the funding will facilitate construction of border facilities at ports. The association comprises a myriad of UK port operators. These operators include all the major ferry terminals as well.

Ballantyne added “The government is setting out its new Border Operating Model and a new publicity campaign for the freight sector and we look forward to discussing these with officials. About half of our trade is with the EU and so this is why we need to get the arrangements right.”

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