NOL moves more cargo in April

Singapore - Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) said it moved 14% more containers in April.

NOL released a statement on its website that it moved 203,000 containers in the four weeks to May 2 as compared to 177,500 containers moved in the same period last year. Its shipping arm carried the equivalent of 203,000 40-foot containers on its ships in that period.

The average revenue on each container carried by the state-controlled firm increased 13% to US$2,940 from US$2,606 in the same period in 2007. The YTD 2008 average revenue increased 15% from US$2,554 to US$2,935.

In six weeks to February this year, NOL moved 289,400 containers, a growth of 17% from the same period last year. NOL said on its website that the company's performance in that period reflected the continued strong container demand growth and rate improvements.

Recently, Reuters reported that NOL's stocks grew as much as 5.9% to a one-week high of S$3.92 before Morgan Stanley issued a note saying that NOL should be able to ride on strong freight rates and outperform its peers.

"With more than 90% of 2008 Transpacific contracts moving to a floating bunker surcharge mechanism, NOL and the industry should face significantly less exposure to volatile and high oil prices," Morgan Stanley analysts said.