FESCO expects Russian container market to fall in May yr/yr

MOSCOW, Apr 24 (PRIME) -- Russia’s container market growth will slow down in April, while May volumes will fall on a year-on-year basis after an 11% growth on the year to 478,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in March, Far-Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Although China has resumed operation on all its industries, even in Wuhan, external demand from the rest of the world is persistently weak, primarily from the U.S. and Europe,” the statement said.

“We will see Russian market growth slowdown as early as in April because of the current quarantine and restrictions in both internal and external directions, while in May there will be a noticeable decrease compared to last year.”

It said that exports still demonstrate high growth because of the ruble devaluation, but lower demand may undermine them.

The company attributed the March increase to delayed demand.

“These cargoes should have been transported in February, but they were transported in March due to restriction measures in China,” the company said, adding that transit grew by 30% last month and deliveries from China to Europe surged by 61%.

In January–March, the container market of Russia rose 8% on the year to 1.3 million TEUs. Container shipping for exports increased 15% to 446,000 TEUs and for imports remained almost flat at 526,000 TEUs. Domestic traffic went up 10% to 214,000 TEUs and transit rose 23% to 117,000 TEUs.

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