Box Shippers Will Increase Freight Rates From July

The freight shippers are planning to implement general rate increases in July.

Leading freight carriers Maersk Line, Hapag-Lloyd, and APL are implementing rate increases across a number of their routes beginning in July, the companies announced in the last week.

The news comes despite bunker prices dropping sharply recently, with key grade IFO380 losing an average of $142 per metric tonne (pmt) across global indicator ports Singapore, Houston, Rotterdam, and Fujairah.

Danish shipper Maersk Line, reporting in their Weekly Highlights, said general rate increases will take effect from July 15, 2012 for services between Latin America to the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent, Europe and West Africa.

Rate increases will range from between $120 per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), to $300 per forty-foot equivalent units (FEU).

Routes between the Far East to the West Coast South America, and Central America and the Caribbean will go up between $400 and $840 per TEU.

German box carrier Hapag-Lloyd announced that shipments from Pakistan to Northern Europe and the mediterranean would see rates increasing by $125 per TEU beginning July 9, with routes from East Asia to the east coast of South America seeing a $500 price hike per TEU from July 15.

Services from East Asia to Mexico, Central America and the West Coast of South America, will see rates increase by $400 per TEU.

Shipments bound from East Asia to the Caribbean and Panama will see prices rise by $560 and $800 per TEU and FEU respectively.

Singapore-based APL, who suspended a recent fuel surcharge in June, will increase rates by $500 per TEU on all shipments from Asia to Northern Europe, Mediterranean and the Black Sea, effective July 1, 2012.

"The rate restoration is applicable to all shipments from Asia (including Japan, Australia, Indian Subcontinent, and Middle East) to North Europe, Mediterranean, and Black Sea," APL said on their website.

Maersk Line, Hapag-LLoyd and APL have combined capacity of just under four million TEU which makes up approximately a quarter of the total global freight-carrying market.