From July, Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and Maersk Line of Denmark will implement rate increases on their Asia network services.
OOCL said yesterday a revenue restoration will be initiated on the Asia-Europe trade on July 1.
Freight rate for westbound traffic from the Far East (including Japan) to the Mediterranean and Black Sea will be increased by US$650 per TEU (20-foot-equivalent unit), the company said.
Meanwhile, customers of Maersk Line, the world’s leading container shipping line, face general rate increases on the Asia-West Africa/U.S./North Europe trade lanes from July 1 as well.
The Far East-West Africa rate hikes for dry and reefer cargo are $250 per 20-foot container and $500 per 40-foot and 40-foot high-cube container.
The network scope is Asia to Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde Island, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Western Sahara.
From Asia to the United States East Coast, the rate hikes will be $480 per 20-foot dry container, $600 per 40-foot dry container, $675 per 40-foot high-cube dry container, $760 per 45-foot high-cube dry container, and $600 per 40-foot high-cube reefer.
For the Asia-North Europe trade, Maersk Line said it has revised upward its previously announced rate of $750 per TEU effective July 1 for the westbound lane.
“The continued rapid decline in market rates over the past weeks has eroded our rate levels much faster and to much lower levels than anticipated when initially announcing our intended minimum rate increase. This makes it financially unsustainable for us to provide our existing services at this intended rate increase,” the liner explained.
The revised rate hike will be $950 per TEU effective July 1.
In addition, a rate increase on the North Europe-Asia eastbound trade will be imposed effective July 1, amounting to $200 per 20-foot container and $300 per 40-foot container.
