Shipping costs to rise yet again

Shipping costs will rise yet again with several lines announcing rate hikes or surcharges.

Maersk Line, the container shipping arm of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, has introduced a peak-season surcharge of $350 per twenty-foot unit (TEU) on Asia-Europe routes, the company said on Friday.

The surcharge had been postponed from 1 June.

Evergreen said in a continued effort to provide our customers with the reliable and efficient level of service, it will implement rate restoration program from 1 July for Far East (including Japan) / Indian Sub-Continent to Europe and Mediterranean Westbound Trade and will apply to all cargoes and commodities, including temperature-controlled and special equipment.

The details are as below: Far East (including Japan) / Europe-Mediterranean Westbound Trade

Effective Date: JUL/01/2012 (On Board Date) and the quantum is USD 500 for 20’, USD 1,000 for 40’ and USD 1,000/40’HQ (High Cube)

For the Indian Sub-Continent / Europe-Mediterranean Westbound Trade, it will be effective 1 July as well with quantum of rise being USD 250 for 20-foot container, USD 500 for 40’ and USD 500 for 40’HQ.

Hapag-Lloyd’s rate increase for all cargoes and all container types from East Asia (excluding Japan) and Oceania to the Indian Subcontinent by USD 150 per TEU came in to force from 15 June. Indian Subcontinent is defined as being the ports in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

Separately Maerks also announced a General Rate Increase for the base rate in the Brazil North bound trade to keep its services sustainable.

Effective from 2 July the GRI’s scope expands to Brazil to Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Cuba.  The increase is USD 300/600/600 per 20’/40’/45’ high cube container.  For Brazil to Colombia, Puerto Rico, and USA (via US Gulf Coast; New Orleans and Houston), GRI is from 4 July with hike being USD 300/600/600 per 20’/40’/45’ high cube container