China Shipping’s average freight rate down 9% in 3rd quarter

China ShippingÆs average freight rate down 9% in 3rd quarter    China Shipping Container Lines' average freight rate in the third quarter dropped 8.8 percent to RMB5,894 ($750) per TEU from RMB6,461 per TEU a year ago.
   The Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed carrier said its third quarter box volume jumped 19.4 percent to 1.44 million TEUs while revenue went up only 9 percent to RMB8.47 billion ($1.08 billion).
   'Although the freight rate of trade lanes during the third quarter of 2006 had recovered slightly as compared with the first half of 2006, the overall level was still lower than that of the same period last year,' China Shipping said.
   China Shipping's largest revenue and volume increases came from the largely untapped Middle East market, which went from 2,811 TEUs to 77,533 TEUs, while revenue reached RMB370.5 million ($47.1 million) from RMB17.5 million.
   North America was China Shipping's biggest market in terms of revenue, posting a 16.3 percent increase to RMB3.54 billion ($450.3 million) on a 28 percent jump in volume to 356,665 TEUs.
   Europe/Mediterranean services posted revenue of RMB2.29 billion ($291.7 million), down 12.8 percent despite a 16.8 percent rise in volumes to 336,380 TEUs.
   Revenue from China domestic services was up 52.9 percent to RMB726.5 million ($92.4 million) after a 10.2 percent increase in volumes to 388,040 TEUs.
   South America services revenue gained 9.5 percent to RMB195.3 million ($24.8 million) after a 36 percent increase in volumes to 21,789 TEUs.
   Near ocean (East and Southeast Asia) trade revenue improved 6.2 percent to RMB433.3 million ($55.1 million). Container volumes in that market was up 16.1 percent to 167,399 TEUs.
   Revenue from the Australia market slipped 12.5 percent to RMB319.5 million ($40.6 million) with volumes down 14.2 percent to 45,890 TEUs. Revenue from other unidentified trades declined 9.7 percent to RMB594.8 million ($75.7 million) with volumes down 35.6 percent to 43,856 TEUs.
   During the quarter China Shipping received one 9,580-TEU containership, increasing its overall fleet capacity by 2.2 percent to 379,428 TEUs.