EMEA News
Drewry: Bunker Surcharges Should Fall
More fuel-efficient vessels and falling fuel prices in Russia in recent months might have been expected to push down bunker surcharges, but that has generally not been the case, Drewry reports.
The introduction of Maersk Line's "Triple-E" 18,000 twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels reduced fuel use per TEU on the Asia-Northern Europe route by about 35 percent compared with a 13,100 TEU vessel, while 13,100 TEU vessels burn 20 percent less than 9,000 TEU vessels.
In dollar terms, Drewry estimated the bunker costs to be $218, $333, and $415 per TEU for the 18,000, 13,100, and 9,000 TEU vessels respectively.
Overall, the average size of vessels deployed between Asia and Northern Europe has jumped from 9,158 TEU in 3Q 2011 to 10,800 today.
While Maersk Line did dramatically revise its standard bunker adjustment factor (SBAF) in June 2013, other carriers have not done the same, and surcharges have not generally fallen faster than fuel prices.
At the same time, the falling price of fuel at the Russian Pacific coast ports to levels between $100 and $150 per metric tonne (mt) lower than in other locations also reduces fuel costs, but the Russian ports' prices are not usually used to calculate bunker surcharges.
Major carriers have reportedly been going out of their way to reach the Russian ports to buy cheaper fuel.
"The fact that ocean carriers' freight rates have been loss-making for much of this year should not cloud the issue of inflated BAFs, as this is due to other factors, even though it is easy to see why ocean carriers may see the picture differently," Drewry said.
Drewry said carriers can expect continuing pressure from shippers to reduce their surcharges.
Maersk Line has said the Triple-E ships would help achieve profits on the Asia-Europe routes after rates dropped earlier this year.
