FEFC carrier’s westbound volume surges again

FEFC carrierÆs westbound volume surges again    Westbound container volumes of the Far Eastern Freight Conference ocean carriers returned to above 20 percent year on year growth in March following a decline in February caused in part by the late reopening of Chinese factories after the Lunar New Year and winter storms.
   The Far Eastern Freight Conference said today its members' box volume in the westbound Asia to Europe and Mediterranean trade increased 20.9 percent in March to 834,416 TEUs, compared to 690,099 TEUs in the same month last year.
   Broken down by region, the monthly Far East-to-North Europe volume was up 16.8 percent to 532,774 TEUs, while the westbound trade to Med ports did even better, up 29 percent to 301,642 TEUs.
   After three months of 2008, the FEFC members' westbound volume was up 11.9 percent to 2.37 million TEUs.
   Eastbound figures for March are not available yet, but the FEFC did report February's backhaul volume as being down 2.2 percent at 301,585 TEUs, and down 3.8 percent after two months at 545,107 TEUs.
   The 17 carriers of the FEFC are estimated to control up to three quarters of the available Asia/Europe and Med vessel capacity. They are: ANL Container Lines, APL, CMA CGM, CSAV Norasia, Egyptian International Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, 'K' Line, Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., MISC Berhad, MOL, NYK, OOCL, Safmarine, Yang Ming and Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.