DP World targets acquisitions in Turkey and Eastern Europe despite market uncertainty

DP World, one of the world's biggest port operators, is looking for acquisition opportunities in Turkey and Eastern Europe to grow its business, according to a senior executive.

The Dubai company currently operates terminals and logistics centres in countries including Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Cyprus and Greece.

“We are exploring markets,” Kris Adams, DP World's executive vice president of East Europe, said in Istanbul.

“It’s a logical question of the right opportunity at the right time,” he said. The container market in Eastern Europe is “very fragmented, where some consolidation is required and we definitely want to be part of that”, he added.

DP World's total revenue from its Eastern Europe operations in the first four months of 2025 rose 28.1 per cent year-on-year, while container volumes rose 17.5 per cent on an annual basis, according to data from the company.

“Revenues been growing quite rapidly, despite the fact that the market has been impacted by a number of geopolitical circumstances,” Mr Adams said.

“You've got the conflict in Ukraine, which is affecting the Black Sea economies. You've got the Red Sea passage, which has been obviously obstructed, which means that the voyage to get cargo here is a lot longer.”

With port operations spanning from Canada to Australia, DP World has been focusing on growing its business with new investments and acquisitions.

In May, the company revealed plans to invest $2.5 billion this year to expand its logistics network to boost international trade. The strategy includes launching major infrastructure projects in India, Africa, South America and Europe, it said in a previous statement.

DP World is also investing $1 billion in the London Gateway logistics hub to build two shipping berths and a second rail terminal. Acquisitions this year included taking full ownership of the Swissterminal in Europe.

DP World aims to expand further in Turkey, Mr Adams said. It currently operates two port terminals in Istanbul in partnership with Evyap Group which have a combined capacity of two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

“Turkey is the most significant market in this geography, purely in terms of logistics market. It's a $92 billion market, of which we are [a] small part, but where we do have the ambition to grow,” he said.

“We are a port operator, but we're also a contract logistics operator, which means warehousing, and also a freight forwarder. We have some really good relationships, with Turkish Airlines for instance, and we fly a lot of cargo. Turkey is producer of a lot of fruits, etc, which we're carrying now all over the place, including the Gulf.”

The company aims to operate more warehouses in the country, he said. “We will grow our freight forwarding network, integrate [it] with our global freight forwarding network, and we will move into new territories within Turkey as well.”

The signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Turkey in 2023 has also accelerated trade and investment in both directions, he said.

The UAE's non-oil trade with Turkey grew by 11.5 per cent on an annual basis to Dh148.9 billion ($40.54 billion) last year, official data shows.

Overall, DP World has passed 100 million TEUs of container-handling capacity across its global operations, it said this year. Its global gross container handling capacity increased by 5 per cent in 2024.

The Dubai company holds a 9.2 per cent share of the global container market, supported by a 33 per cent growth in capacity since 2014, it said in January.

Its revenue for 2024 grew 9.7 per cent to $20 billion on improved ports and terminals performance as well as contributions from new acquisitions and concessions. However, profit for the year was down 2 per cent at $1.5 billion due to higher finance costs.