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CARGO
volume from Asia to the Mediterranean fell
in September and October 2013 compared to
the normal peak season period between April
and August, but year-on-year growth remained
impressive, particularly to the eastern
Mediterranean, according to the Container
Insight report issued by Drewry Maritime
Research.
As
expected, cargo growth from Asia to the
Mediterranean tailed off in September and
October last year, following the rush to
move goods into the Mediterranean ahead
of the August holiday period.
Exports
from Asia in September reached only 373,000
TEU, followed by 369,000 TEU in October,
compared to a monthly average of 411,000
TEU during the second quarter peak season,
said the Container Insight report.
However,
the year-to-date total of 3.9 million TEU
was still 7.4 per cent higher than during
the same period last year, mostly due to
increased demand from eastern Europe. Growth
to the western Mediterranean reached just
3.9 per cent, whereas that to the eastern
Mediterranean climbed to a much more impressive
10.9 per cent.
Ocean
carriers responded to the cargo downturn
in September and October by withdrawing
vessel capacity in a fragmented way. The
net effect of this was that average vessel
capacity fell by 6.7 per cent between August
and September, down to 422,180 TEU, where
it more-or-less stayed during October and
November.
The
consequence of cargo falling slightly more
than capacity is that the average utilisation
of all ships sailing from Asia to the Mediterranean
decreased from 91 per cent in August to
88 per cent in September, and then onto
87 per cent in October.
Containerised
cargo from the Mediterranean back to Asia
remained encouraging for ocean liners during
September and October, reaching 176,000
TEU and 172,000 TEU respectively, compared
to the second quarter's monthly average
of 175,000 TEU.
This
brought the year-to-date increase up to
a very healthy 12 per cent, with exports
from the western Mediterranean growing by
7.3 per cent, and those from the eastern
Mediterranean rising by 17 per cent.
According
to Drewry, ocean carriers will continue
to cancel sailings to match supply with
demand over the winter season. Further service
withdrawals are unlikely before the introduction
of P3's new schedules in the second quarter
of 2014 (regulatory approval assuming).
This
means that, on average, the 13 sailings
withdrawn in November will have to be doubled
to get average vessel utilisation up to
95 per cent, which seems to be “ocean carriers
comfort zone?at present, said Drewry.
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