APL’s box traffic up 16% in December

APL’s box traffic up 16% in December    APL’s worldwide container traffic grew 17 percent on a like-for-like basis in the last six weeks of December.
   Neptune Orient Lines reported that its carrier subsidiary APL moved 244,700 forty-foot equivalent units (FEUs) in the seven weeks from Nov. 13 to Dec. 31, 2004.
   APL’s average freight rate for latest seven-week period was $2,771 per FEU, about the same as the $2,783 rate recorded for the four-week period ended Nov. 12, and up 9 percent on the $2,532 rate for the six-week period covering the end of 2003.
   “Volume in period 12 grew 17 percent on a normalized six-week period, as a result of additional services introduced in 2004 and robust cargo flow,” Neptune Orient Lines said. “Vessel utilization remains at healthy levels.”
   Neptune Orient Lines also reported a 29-percent year-on-year jump, to $105 million, in revenue from contract logistics services at its subsidiary APL Logistics for the seven-week period ended Dec. 31.