Container Throughput Index registers small growth
The container throughput index released by the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) crept up by the small amount of 0.7 points to 139.5 in September this year.
At the same time, the figures for the three previous months were revised downwards a little. The improvement in September should not be overestimated, since it is within the margin of uncertainty of the flash estimate that this month is based on the data provided by 46 ports that process roughly three quarters of the cargo handling volumes described in the index.
Although the overall trend appears to be moving sideways, container traffic is showing a slightly better performance than world trade as a whole. Roland Döhrn, head of RWI’s macroeconomics and public finance department: “The container business has so far remained defiant despite the currently difficult economic climate, but this positive result does not mean that world trade will begin to grow again.”
