Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Jan 30, 2012 9:25AM EST
APL in the last six weeks of 2011 shipped more containers year-over-year, but the carrier’s annual revenue by container plunged by double-digits as rates on the main east-west trade lane hit record lows.
The Singapore-based liner unit of Neptune Orient Lines said its container volume during the period climbed 6 percent to 357,909 40-foot equivalent units during the six weeks from Nov. 19 to Dec. 30, according to latest monthly report released Monday. APL’s average revenue per FEU dropped by 14 percent to $2,265.
APL said the increase in volume was mainly due to higher volumes carried on the intra-Asia trade lane. The carrier attributed the decline in average revenue per FEU to lower rates in the major trade lanes.
For 2011 as a whole, APL’s container shipping volumes increased 7 percent to 2.98 million FEUs from 2.78 million FEUs in 2010. Average revenue per FEU for all of 2011 fell by 10 percent to $2,500 per FEU from $2,790 per FEU in 2010
The slide in APL’s average revenue per container reflected the eight-week decline or flat-lining of Drewry’s benchmark for average spot freight rates on the trans-Pacific, which hit a low of $1,435 per FEU in the last week of December.
Although the World Container Index of spot rates on the Asia-Europe trade bounced up and down during the last six weeks of 2011, it finished the year at $944 per FEU, slightly above its low for the year of $864 per FEU in the first week of December.
NOL said it will no longer publish monthly reports on its operating performance, but will consolidate future volume and revenue information contained in the monthly operating updates into its quarterly results, effective Jan. 1.
-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
