NOL: container volumes up, rates fall

NOL: container volumes up, rates fall    Neptune Orient Lines, parent company of container carrier APL, said it moved 229,700 40-foot equivalent units in the four-week period ending April 8, 12 percent more volume than in the same 2010 period.
   NOL said in its most recent operational update that freight rates averaged $2,557 per FEU, 2 percent below the same period a year ago. Average rates have been falling since last summer when they averaged $3,181 per FEU in the four-week period ending Aug. 20, 2010.
   NOL said the increase in volume was mainly due to higher volumes carried on the intra-Asia and Asia/Europe trade lanes while the decline in average revenue per FEU was due mainly to falling rates in the Asia/Europe trade lane and trade mix effect associated with higher volumes lifted in the intra-Asia trade lane.