Danish container shipper Maersk Line announced a second rate hike this year on its Asia-Europe lanes in a bid to recover from huge revenue losses owing to high fuel costs and a market overcapacity.
The word’s largest container shipping group said it will impose a further $400 rate increase per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) for all dry and reefer cargo from all Asian ports to all destinations in North Europe and the Mediterranean.
The rate hike becomes effective from April 1, the company said.
In January, the Copenhagen-based box ship said it will hike Asia-Europe rates by $775 per TEU from March 1.
On February 17, the company said it is making a 9 percent cargo capacity reduction on the Asia-Europe trade in an attempt to boost rates. The capacity cut is to be conducted through a vessel-sharing agreement with French container shipping line CMA CGM.
“The Asia-Europe trade remains the world’s busiest trade route, however, the supply of vessels currently operating on this trade simply outweighs the demand. We are therefore rationalising our service by taking out vessel capacity and thereby reducing costs,” Vincent Clerc, chief product and yield officer for Maersk Line, had said to explain the capacity slash.
