A report issued by the Damietta Port Authority (DPA) has showed an increase in the number of docked vessels at the port by 8.5% during May 2017 compared to May 2016. According to the report, the number increased from 234 during May 2016 to 254 in May 2017. The volume of goods traded at the port increased by 148% in May 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, reaching 3.1m tonnes this year, compared to 2.7m tones last year. The report showed an increase of 24% in the exports of general goods in May, where the volume of exported goods increased from 547,200 tonnes in May 2016 to reach 679,200 tonnes in May 2017. This is an increase of 132,000 tonnes, on the back of an increase in the exported amounts of methanol and fertilisers. According to the report issued by the DPA, the number of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled through the port has increased by 16.5% in May 2017. The 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 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. 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.
