The seasonally adjusted RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index fell significantly from a corrected 116.3 to 112.9. Contrary to previous years, the seasonal peak was already reached in September. This may be due to slow steaming on the major routes Far East-North America and Far East-Europe which increase the transit time. The October value is only slightly above the August level. Despite the peak in September, world trade growth remains rather weak.

The index for September was revised strongly upwards from 113.4 to 116.3, partly due to the good performance of Chinese ports whose data were still missing in October. The October flash forecast is based on solid sample of 37 ports handling roughly 73% of the traffic represented in the index.

The Index is based on data for 72 international ports covering more roughly 60% of world container handling. These ports are continuously monitored by the ISL as part of their market analysis. Because large parts of international merchandise trade are transported by ship, the development of port handling is a good indicator for world trade. As many ports release information about their activities only two weeks after the end of the respective month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator for the development of international merchandise trade and hence for the activity of the global economy.

The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for November will be published on December 20th.

For further information, please contact:
Prof. Dr. Roland Döhrn (RWI), Tel.: +49 201 81 49-262, email
Sönke Maatsch (ISL), Tel.: +49 421 220 96-32, email
Sabine Weiler (Press Office RWI), Tel.: +49 0201 81 49-213, email

Chart in printable version

Data

Further information about the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is available at www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex.