DHL reports 11% decline in Mideast freight volumes on unrest

DHL reported volumes at its Middle East unit decline 11% in Feb-2011 due to political unrest in the region (Arabian Supply Chain, 10-Apr-2011). Volumes declined 1.9% in Mar-2011. Turkey, Qatar and Morocco showed "extremely healthy growth" during 1Q2011, Mr Kemp said. The company stated it expects to match its 2010 volumes in 2011, despite political unrest in the region.

DHL: "In the hot spots of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Algeria and Jordan in February we were down about just over 11 percent on the previous year. That's not alarming given what's going on in these countries. We're very well experienced in coping in those sorts of environments … We only lost one day where we were unable to do deliveries of collections and that was in Bahrain for one business day," Garry Kemp, managing director for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Source: Arabian Supply Chain, 10-Apr-2011.