Container alliance realignments hit Westports volumes, down 3%

In its first quarter results announcement, Westports had said it would see flat growth for the rest of the year as it maintained similar volumes to 2016.It had also expected to still grow volumes in the current second quarter on transitional moves or ad hoc calls during the interim period as the alliances  adjusted their networks.

"However, these did not materialise as planned due to the fact that competition for these volumes were intense,” it added.

Westports said it was releasing the update on volumes to meet fair disclosure requirements as it has become clear it will not meet its forecasts made earlier.

“We would like to disclose that for April to May, we have recorded lower volume than originally expected,” it added.“With the more moderate container throughput, we now expect the year’s overall container volume to be lower than the previous year by a single-digit percentage,” Westports concluded.