APL’s container rates up 24% on year ago

APL’s container rates up 24% on year ago    Average container freight rates at APL stood at $2,727 per 40-foot equivalent unit in the four-week period ended Sept. 19, 24 percent higher than in the comparable period in 2002, the carrier’s latest monthly operating statistics show.
   However, the continuous growth of APL’s average rates since the beginning of 2002 appears to have stopped in the latest four-week period. Rates for the four-week period ended Sept. 19 were marginally below the level of $2,739 per FEU experienced in the four-week period ended Aug. 22, when the carrier’s rates reached a four-year high.
   Neptune Orient Lines, the parent company of APL, said that an increase in intra-Asia volumes had a small effect on overall revenue per FEU. The shipping company also reported “high utilization on the head-haul directions of all major trade lanes.”
   Meanwhile, Neptune Orient Lines’ logistics revenues grew by 22 percent to $87 million in the four-week period ended Sept. 19, when compared to a year ago. Contract logistics services produced a revenue of $60.2 million in the latest period, an increase of 16 percent, while international services recorded revenues of $26.8 million, 40 percent more than in the year-earlier period.