DP World spends $100 million monthly to keep Jebel Ali port operational as vessels avoid the crisis-hit UAE container gateway.
DP World is spending about $100 million a month to keep its flagship Jebel Ali port operational while vessels steer clear of the crisis-hit UAE container gateway, chief executive Yuvraj Narayan told the company's first-half earnings call on Thursday.
The port, one of the world's busiest container hubs, is running at roughly 10% of its normal capacity. It currently handles about 4,000 containers a day, down from a typical 40,000, according to Narayan.
"There is hardly any activity as far as vessels are concerned," he said. "But we still do approximately 4,000 containers a day through various alternate routes, whether they are through Fujairah, through Khor Fakkan, through Oman, through Jeddah land route—so alternatives have been worked out."
For cargo owners weighing the reliability of their supply chains, those alternate routes have become the practical means of keeping goods moving through the region while Jebel Ali stays quiet.
Narayan stressed that the port remains prepared to resume normal operations quickly. "We have kept Jebel Ali in a full state of preparedness to be able to reopen and restart at 48 hours' notice, and we intend to keep it that way," he said.
DP World is building two new terminals at Fujairah, positioned outside the Strait of Hormuz, at an expected cost of about $750 million over the next 24 to 36 months. The terminals are due to become operational in roughly 24 months and will lift the company's total UAE container capacity by 2.5 million TEU, to 22 million TEU.
The investment gives shippers an alternative gateway that avoids the strait, a chokepoint that has repeatedly raised concerns over route reliability.
Narayan said the new terminals would not change DP World's plan to spend about $3 billion in capital expenditure in 2026. He added that the company expected net leverage to stay below 4x its annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
The company held about $8.2 billion in available liquidity and said it could meet its upcoming debt maturities.
DP World's global logistics network helped absorb the cost of lost volumes at Jebel Ali. Revenue in the first half of 2026 rose 13% year on year to $12.7 billion, though pre-tax profit fell 39% to $585 million.
Global TEU throughput dropped 5.7% year on year to 42.8 million in the first half. Excluding Jebel Ali, however, throughput rose 5.4% on a reported basis.
"While one important gateway is temporarily impacted, the underlying business continues to perform well," chief financial officer Anil Mohta said.
By business line, the ports and terminals unit posted revenue of $4.5 billion, up 4% year on year. Logistics revenue climbed 24% to $5.9 billion, while marine services generated $2.3 billion, up 7%.
For shippers, the message from DP World is one of continuity: alternate routing options are in place, added capacity is on the way, and the group's flagship port can return to full service on short notice.
