Water

By Daryl Delano -- Logistics Management, 8/1/1998

Average prices in the waterborne freight sector rose sharply in both May and June. The June increase can be attributed primarily to the inbound liner component, whose price index plunged 6.7% in April. Since then, however, prices have moved back up, rising 2.0% in June. Nevertheless, June 1998 inbound ocean freight prices were 3.5% lower than year-ago levels. We're forecasting a 1.4% drop in overall water transportation inflation this year.

% CHANGE VS.: 1 month ago 6 mos. ago 1 yr. ago

Inbound liner +2.0 +0.3 -3.5

Outbound liner -0.5 +2.9 -3.0

Domestic deep sea +0.1 -5.5 -5.5

Grt. Lks.-St. Lawrence -0.1 +0.8 +1.2

Mississippi River +1.1 -3.2 -0.9