A report by Damietta Port Authority (DPA) revealed that the number of vessels received by the port during 2016 increased by 8% since 2015. The number of vessels increased from 2,357 vessels in 2015 to 2,562 vessels during 2016. The report attributed the apparent increase to the increased number of dry bulk ships by 46% with an increase of 472 vessels during 2015 to reach 690 ships in 2016. According to the report, the total cargo traded at the port increased by 14.2%, as cargo size increased from 28m tonnes traded in 2015 to 32m tonnes during 2016. The report said that the increase in the size of cargos was due to the increased amounts of exported iron by 684.6%, which increased from 3,867 tonnes to 30,343 tonnes. The increase in the amount of exported methanol was 371.5%. Exported quantities of methanol rose from 117,100 tonnes in 2015 to 552,200 tonnes in 2016. The exported amounts of fertiliser have increased from 1m tonnes in 2015 to 2.1m tonnes during 2016, an increase of 179%. The size of containers increased during the past year compared to 2015 by 12.6%, and registered an increase from 719,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2015 to reach 810,300 TEUs during the past year. According to the report, the size of the exported containers increased by 14.8% in 2016 compared to 2015. The exported containers increased from 358,400 TEUs in 2015 to 411,500 TEUs in 2016, while imported containers increased by 10.4%. The number of imported TEUs increased from 361,100 in 2015 to 398,700 in 2016.
