Logistics firms face increasing pressure

BEIJING - China's logistics companies will face increasing costs as a result of waning demand and rising oil prices, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Thursday.

During the January-February period, the total value of China's logistics industry rose 10.6 percent year-on-year to 23.5 trillion yuan ($3.73 trillion), but the growth rate was down 3.9 percentage points, the CFLP said in a report.

The growth rate for industrial product logistics pulled back 2.7 percentage points, while that for imported goods retreated 17.6 percentage points, the CFLP said.

Slowing economic activity due to the global downturn and the post-Spring Festival holiday slump were the main reasons for the drop, the CFLP said.

Meanwhile, logistics costs in the first two months increased 12.3 percent year-on-year to 1.3 trillion yuan, of which transportation costs went up 11.8 percent to 700 billion yuan.

The CFLP said increasing oil prices will continue to create headaches for logistics companies.

To reflect price changes on the international crude oil market, China announced Monday evening that it would increase gasoline and diesel prices by 600 yuan per ton starting Tuesday.