Westbound Pacific container rates rise
Monday, February 26th, 2007 - 11:25 am
The 10-member Westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (WTSA) said Saturday they have scheduled rate increases for miscellaneous cargo ‘not otherwise specified’ (NOS) and mixed ‘freight all kinds’ (FAK) cargo. The WTSA anticipates intermodal rail rate increases of as much as 20 per cent this year.
Because the westbound transpacfic lane is a backhaul, rates are typically much lower than for eastbound, ex-Asia rates and large numbers of empty containers are repositioned back to Asia along with paying cargo. North American non-bulk, export cargos include industrial inputs, refrigerated meat and poultry, waste paper, metal and plastic scrap, raw cotton, resins, animal feeds, hides, borates, aluminium and rubber products, newsprint and forest products. Almost 40% goes to China, which took over 1.6 million TEUs (20-foot containers) of the total 4.2 million TEUs carried in 2005. Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are also key markets.
Effective April 1, 2007:
- US West Coast port-to-port rates for a 40-foot container (FEU) to Asia rise by $50 USD
- 20-foot container rates and rates for East Coast all-water shipments rise by $40 USD
- Intermodal moves from USA inland points rise by $300 USD per FEU and by $240 USD per TEU.
Typically, increases are simultaneously applied to the smaller Canadian lanes.
The rate hikes follow those for scrap metal shipments effective last week. Those rates jumped by $100 USD per FEU and $80 per TEU for port-to-port moves from the U.S. to Asia and $150 per FEU and $120 per TEU for inland intermodal to Asia.
The WTSA also aims to increase bunker fuel surcharges in new FAK cargo contracts to at least $90 USD per FEU by Jan 1, 2008. (Sources: Business Times Online; WTSA)
