Damietta Port Authority recorded 1,346 ships using the port in the first half of 2016─a 14% increase compared to 1,177 ships in the same period last year, according to a report issued by the authority.
The number of jetties at the port has increased owing to the 50% rise in dry bulk ships coming to the port. The first half of 2016 registered 349 of these ships, compared to 233 in the same period last year.
The number of container ships also increased by 14.4%, reaching 592 ships this year, compared to 542 ships during the first half of 2015.
The report showed a 22% increase in the volume of cargo handled by the port during the first quarter of 2016. In the first quarter of 2015, the volume registered 13.5m tonnes and this year the port registered 16.5m tonnes.
The report said that the reason for the increase in the volume of traded cargo is the increased number of shipments being exported through the port. Exported fertiliser shipments increased by 174%, from 500,000 tonnes in the first half of 2015, to 1.3m tonnes during the same period this year.
The amount of methanol exported through the port has increased from 25,900 tonnes in 2015 to 205,000 tonnes in the first half of 2016.
The amount of imported steel increased by 29% during the first half of 2016.
| Growth rate | First half of 2016 | First half of 2015 | Ship according to type |
| – 3.6% | 298 | 309 | General Goods |
| 49.8% | 349 | 233 | Dry bulk |
| 0.0% | 77 | 77 | Liquid bulk |
| 87.5% | 30 | 16 | Special nature |
| 9.2% | 754 | 635 | Total general goods |
| 14.4% | 592 | 542 | Container ships |
| 14.4% | 1,346 | 1,117 | Total |
