THE world's largest container shipping line, Maersk Line, has announced it will increase rates on the southbound Europe-Oceania and on the Asia-West Africa trades this year and will also revise its Europe and Caribbean, Central America port coverage.
The Europe-Oceania trade, cargo from the United Kingdom, North Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic and the Mediterranean to Australia-New Zealand and South Pacific islands will be subject to a rate hike of US$200 per TEU from April 1.
This will be followed by a rate increase of $200/TEU from July 1, and a further rate increase of a $200/TEU from October 1.
The company also said in a statement that it will implement a peak season surcharge of $140 per container from the United Kingdom, North Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic and the Mediterranean to Australia.
"The above increases are a consequence of the rate erosions experienced in 2006. We intend to restore the rates to a level where we can address the cost increases and continue to offer a reliable and efficient coverage for the entire trade," the release said.
This latest rate hike comes just days after the shipping line announced it was raising rates on the Asia-West Africa trade.
This means that cargo shipped by sea from Japan and South Korea to West Africa (excluding Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone) will be subject to a $200/TEU rate increase, starting April 1.
This will be followed from October 1 by a rate hike of $200/TEU for the South Korea trade and $100/TEU for cargo from Japan.
Containers shipped from mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia to West Africa (excluding Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone) will be affected by a rate rise of $100/TEU from April 1, and another rate increase of $200/TEU from June 1, followed by $200/TEU from September 15.
Furthermore a peak season surcharge will be applied from July 1 to December 31 of $200 per TEU from Japan and South Korea. In addition, cargo from China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia will be subject to a surcharge of US$200/TEU from August 2007 to the Chinese New Year 2008.
In a separate development, Maersk Line said it will upgrade its Europe to/from the Caribbean/Central America coverage.
In January 2007, the company plans to introduce the fixed-day, weekly Central America and Caribbean Express (CRX) service.
The CRX port rotation will be: Southampton, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Algeciras, San Juan, Rio Haina, Kingston, Moin, Manzanillo and Southampton.
The CRX will provide fixed-day, weekly sailings from Northern Europe and Spain to the Caribbean and Central America, as well as sailings from Costa Rica, Panama and Jamaica to northern Europe.
It will also offer reefer container capacity, and connect up with Maersk's dedicated feeder network in Central America, the Caribbean and Europe.
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