FEFC issues revised growth figures for 2008

摘要

The Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) has issued revised cargo growth figures for the tradelane from Asia to Europe in April, compared to the same period last year. This stems from errors in the previous figures reported by some member lines. As FEFC members control over 70% of all vessel capacity on the route, the information is significant. April's growth to the Mediterranean has been increased from 6.49% to 10.13%, while that to Northern Europe has risen from 5.04% to 6.05%. This results in the total trade to Europe increasing by 7.51%, instead of 5.55% as previously reported. The change may not sound much, but with so much at present hanging on the health of the tradelane for ocean carriers -the big ships employed there have nowhere else to go - additional growth of almost 2% is very helpful. Moreover, provisional figures so far for May suggest growth of 13.65% to the Mediterranean and 14.73% to Northern Europe.