Logistics sector reports slower growth

China on Tuesday reported mild growth in its logistics sector in the first three months of 2013, with goods worth 43.3 trillion yuan (6.94 trillion U.S. dollars) moving around the country in the period.

The sector's 9.4-percent growth in the quarter slowed by a further 0.3 percentage points from the January-February period, according to data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

Costs in the logistics sector rose 10 percent year on year to 2.1 trillion yuan, down 2.2 percentage points from the same period of last year.

CFLP data showed shipment prices of raw materials remained tepid in the first three months amid the weak global economic recovery.

The China Coastal Dry Index, an indicator of the ups and downs of the logistics sector, fell 8.1 percent year on year between the start of January and the end of March, compared with a decline of 6.7 percent in the Baltic Dry Index, an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea globally.