APL’s traffic soars as rates near two-year peak

APL’s traffic soars as rates near two-year peak    APL carried 20 percent more containers in the four-week period ended June 25 than in the same period a year earlier, while its average revenue per 40-foot equivalent unit edged up 3 percent year-on-year.
   Neptune Orient Lines, the parent company of APL, reported that APL shipped 139,200 FEUs in the latest four-week period, as compared to 115,600 FEUs a year earlier.
   “Volumes continued the trend of double-digit year-on-year growth for the fifth consecutive month,” Neptune Orient Lines said “Volumes were boosted by the introduction of additional capacity in the key trade routes of transpacific, Asia/Europe and intra-Asia for the upcoming peak season.”
   Average unit revenue in the four-week period ended June 25 was $2,673 per FEU, 3 percent up from $2,595 a year earlier and marginally higher than the average rate of $2,630 for May of this year. The June period was the third period in a row of increasing average container rates at APL, bringing average rates close to a recent two-year peak of $2,739 reached in August 2003. Neptune Orient Lines calculates average rates per FEU across multiple trade routes covered by APL.
   Neptune Orient Lines also reported a 14-percent increase in its contract logistics revenue for the four-week period ended June 25, to $63.5 million, from $55.5 million a year earlier.