Wednesday, March 11, 2009
China Shipping says coastal shipping rate down 39 pct
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
China Shipping Development Co Ltd said on Tuesday its average freight rate for domestic coastal bulk cargo contracts dropped nearly 40 percent in 2009, following plummeting global freight rates. The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index .BADI plunged more than 90 percent in 2008, before a gradual recovery began in February. The index had bounced back to 2,262 points as of Tuesday.
The energy and iron ore shipper said it had completed the signing of a majority of domestic coastal bulk cargo contracts of affreightment (COA) for 2009.
Freight volume under the 2009 contracts at March 10 totalled about 58.65 million tonnes, or 67.7 percent of total shipping volume of the coastal bulk cargoes achieved by the group in 2008, it said in a statement.
Average freight rate under the 2009 COA contracts fell by 39 percent from a year earlier, it added.
Income from coastal bulk freight transportation represented about 48 percent of its total income from transportation in 2008.
China Shipping said it was still negotiating further COA contracts for 2009.
Trading in the company's shares was suspended on Tuesday pending an announcement relating to an asset injection transaction.
The stock has fallen 18 percent this year in Hong Kong, close to a 19 percent loss in the blue chip Hang Seng Index and against a 13 percent fall in the main index for major Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
Source: Reuter
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