REPORT BLAMES FALL IN LINER SHIPPING REVENUES

    Container shipping lines have seen their revenues stagnate since 1996 because of decreasing freight rates, according to a report by London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants.
    The report, "Container Market Outlook – High Risk, High Stakes, Where’s the Payback?," estimates that liner carriers were unable to lift their total revenues between 1996 and 1998 despite a 15-percent increase in traffic volumes. Container shipping lines had worldwide revenues of $77.9 billion in 1996, $77.6 billion in 1997 and $77.0 billion in 1998, the report said.
    By contrast, their combined traffic, measured in loaded TEUs, rose from 49.0 million in 1996, to 53.5 million TEUs in 1997 and 56.2 million TEUs last year. Average freight rates dropped by about 14 percent during the same period.
    "All the additional traffic was essentially carried not just freight free, but actually with a subsidy from lines," Drewry Shipping said.
    Drewry Shipping said that freight rates in container shipping will remain low, even if rates are going up in certain one-way trades, particularly from Asia, because of wider trade imbalances.