Qatar ports record brisk cargo and RORO movement month-on-month in April: Mwani Qatar

Qatar's maritime sector witnessed a strong double digit growth in cargoes and vehicle imports (RORO) through its Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports in April this year, according to Mwani Qatar.

The general and bulk cargo handled through the three ports amounted to 235,432 freight tonnes in April 2024, which surged 69.26% month-on-month but fell 5.78% on a yearly basis in the review period.

Hamad Port – whose multi-use terminal is designed to serve the supply chains for the RORO, grains and livestock – handled as much as 92,400 freight tonnes of bulk and 122,765 freight tonnes of breakbulk in April this year.

The three ports had seen a cumulative 602,782 freight tonnes of bulk and break-bulk cargoes in the first four months of this year.

The cargo trends through the ports corroborates the Qatar Financial Center's purchasing managers' index, which has maintained that the country's non-oil private sector is in the pink of its health and the 12-month outlook remains bright.

The three ports handled 10,432 RORO in April 2024, which registered 74.71% and 29.94% growth month-on-month and year-on-year respectively. Hamad Port alone handled 10,411 units in April this year.

QTerminals had set a new industry standard for RORO handling in April 2024 when it recorded the highest number of RORO units from a single vessel in the port's history. The record-breaking RORO handling comprised a diverse array of heavy machinery, chain equipment, and small vehicles, reflecting the port's versatility in handling a wide range of cargo types

Qatar's automobile sector has been witnessing stronger sales, notably in heavy equipment, private motorcycles and private vehicles, according to the data of the Planning and Statistics Authority.

The three ports had seen a total of 29,632 RORO movements during January-April 2024.

As many as 192 ships had called on Qatar's three ports in April 2024, which was lower by 19.33% and 17.24% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively.

Hamad Port, whose strategic geographical location offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq and south towards Oman, saw as many as 117 vessels call (excluding military) on the port in the review period.

A total of 839 ships have called on three ports in January-April 2024.

The container handling through the three ports stood at 87,005 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) in April 2024. Hamad Port, the largest eco-friendly project in the region and internationally recognised as one of the largest green ports in the world, alone handled 85,715 TEUs of containers handled this April.

During the first four months of this year, as many as 438,569 TEUs of containers were handled by the three 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.

The building materials traffic through the three ports stood at 23,932 tonnes in April 2024, which plummeted 54.19% and 34.36% on monthly and annualised basis respectively. The three ports had seen a total of 166,817 tonnes of building materials handled in the first four months of this year.

The three ports were seen handling 19,573 livestock in April 2024, which showed 83.49% and 72.11% plunge month-on-month and year-on-year respectively.