NOL volume grows 0.8 percent by mid September
Neptune Orient Lines reported its first year-over-year expansion in ocean container volume in a year Monday in a report that showed the operator’s strongest demand for shipping so far in 2009.
The Singapore-based parent of container line APL, in its monthly report on operations, said volume grew 0.8 percent in its four-week reporting period ending Sept. 18 from the same period a year ago, reaching 205,700 40-foot-equivalent units.
The expansion over last year marked a rare report of growth in a shipping field hit hard by the downturn in global trade, although yield, measured in average revenue per FEU, was down 28.7 percent from the same period a year ago.
But yield expanded 2.6 percent from the earlier four-week period ending Aug. 21, and the average of $2,247 was the highest since May.
Volume also grew 6.7 percent sequentially, from NOL’s period eight to period nine, and the overall volume was up 49 percent from the downturn’s low point in February.
For the full year through Sept. 18, NOL’s volume was off 17.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
The Singapore-based parent of container line APL, in its monthly report on operations, said volume grew 0.8 percent in its four-week reporting period ending Sept. 18 from the same period a year ago, reaching 205,700 40-foot-equivalent units.
The expansion over last year marked a rare report of growth in a shipping field hit hard by the downturn in global trade, although yield, measured in average revenue per FEU, was down 28.7 percent from the same period a year ago.
But yield expanded 2.6 percent from the earlier four-week period ending Aug. 21, and the average of $2,247 was the highest since May.
Volume also grew 6.7 percent sequentially, from NOL’s period eight to period nine, and the overall volume was up 49 percent from the downturn’s low point in February.
For the full year through Sept. 18, NOL’s volume was off 17.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago.