INTERCONTAINER REPORTS FURTHER FALL IN VOLUMES

INTERCONTAINER REPORTS FURTHER FALL IN VOLUMES    Intercontainer-Interfrigo, the major pan-European intermodal rail operator, suffered a 10-percent decrease in its container traffic volume in 2001, to 860,000 TEUs.
   “The events of Sept. 11 and the general climate of recession in the U.S.A. and Europe began to make themselves felt from October onwards, especially in the maritime sector,” the company said.
   Intercontainer-Interfrigo reported that it closed the 2001 financial year at break-even point, with a fall in intermodal transport volumes and finalization of moves to reposition its Frigo reefer business.
   “For 2002 the goal is to increase combined transport volumes by 5 percent as part of a ‘controlled growth strategy’,” the company said. However, Intercontainer-Interfrigo warned that the major unknown factors “continue to be the standards of suppliers’ traction services and the behaviour of a number of railways keen to divert some Intercontainer-Interfrigo traffics to their own accounts.” Intercontainer-Interfrigo buys train capacity and traction from European railways.
   In a separate development, Intercontainer-Interfrigo acquired on Jan. 1 the 50-percent share it did not already own in Allied Continental Intermodal Ltd., the U.K.-based cross-Channel Tunnel intermodal operator.