China and Europe on an equal footing?
The current container throughput index of the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) shows mixed results. Overall, the seasonally adjusted index for March recorded an increase of 5.9 points to 111.2, which however was 4% down from the level of the same period last year.
The Chinese ports, which now have returned to their normal level of operation, posted a throughput only 1% lower than in the previous year. The ports of the other countries however felt the negative effects of the drop in container volumes from China.
Therefore, in March, the index conducted a special survey excluding the Chinese ports. This seasonally adjusted index fell 3 points in March compared to February and was 6.2% below the level of the previous year.
At the same time, RWI and ISL released a separate index for the northern range, a first for this publication. The northern range comprises the major European ports on the North Sea: Le Havre, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen/Bremerhaven and Hamburg. In March, the northern range index rose by 2 points, 4.3% below the level of the previous year.
The RWI/ISL container throughput index for April 2020 will be published on 26 May 2020. (mw)
www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex