Water

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1999

After shooting up 64.2% from May to June, the average rate for inbound deep-sea foreign freight transportation fell 7.6% from June to July. A Bureau of Labor Statistics analyst says the price hike in June was not a fluke, as evidenced by the modest level of July's rate pullback. Improving prices for commodities like aluminum and oil and a nascent economic recovery in Asia will likely keep deep-sea rates from sinking too far. Our water transportation price outlook now calls for a 2.6% price hike in 1999, not the 1.8% rise formerly predicted.

% CHANGE VS.:1 month ago6 mos. ago1 yr. ago

Inbound liner -7.6 +53.8 +39.8

Outbound liner 0.0 -1.6 -7.6

Domestic deep sea -0.2 +1.6 +2.8

Grt. Lks.-St. Lawrence +0.3 -0.3 -0.1

Mississippi River +5.5 +6.5 +6.5