The Covid-19 pandemic is still holding a firm grip on the world. Vaccination programs have started to take place worldwide and we all hope to see improvements in the second quarter.
Nevertheless, world trade is booming and there is an enormous space shortage on board vessels and (cargo) aircrafts. The capacity issues for Ocean and Airfreight and the rate increases particularly for imports from Asia and exports into North America remain unprecedented and continuous for the time being. Due to the Corona crisis, it will not be easy to issue fixed rates in the second quarter of 2021. Nevertheless, we have tried to provide a reasonable overview of current market developments.
Sea freight
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Import Asia
Import rates for full containers from China have risen to unprecedented heights. The reasons for this have already been explained in previous letters and news bulletins. You can find more information about this on our website www.intervracht.nl .
After Chinese New Year it seemed for a while that rates would stabilize. However, at the moment it seems that the slight downward trend will not continue. As you can expect from us, we absorb the rate fluctuations with our variable PSS surcharge.
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North America export FCL
We see significant increases in rates on the North Atlantic shipping routes. Depending on the Trade/Sailing route, the rate increase fluctuates between USD 300.00 to USD 600.00 per TEU.
Steamshiplines have announced further increases for the coming weeks. Unfortunately the carriers taking advantage of the current shortage. Therefore, we are currently unable to give fixed rates for full containers to America, instead we will provide you with a rate upon request.
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North America export LCL
For the route via Canada to Chicago, carriers implemented significant rate increases and higher surcharges at the beginning of this year. This trend will continue in Q2 and capacities are extremely tight. This also has a substantial effect on our ocean freight LCL rates to the US. We have indicated the rate increases in a separate GRI line on our rate sheets.
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Other sailing areas
For the other sailing areas around the world, such as the Middle East, South America and Australia, we also see rate increases, which are fortunately less significant than for North America.
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Capacity, transit times and Premium rate
There is limited capacity for almost all sailing areas and therefore we highly advise you to make your bookings ahead of time and to take into account longer transit times than usual. In certain sailing areas, the waiting time to get on board is sometimes 3 to 4 weeks. Only if the shipper is willing to pay a high Premium rate on top of the standard rate, some guarantees are given by steamshiplines. You should consider surcharges of USD 1,500.00 to USD 2,500.00 per container, depending on the type of container and the final destination.
Air freight
As known, the majority of cargo that is transported by air is done on board passenger aircrafts and these are still largely grounded by the global Covid-19 crisis with all its consequences. The rates for air freight shipments are therefore unprecedentedly high and it is virtually impossible to issue fixed rates for this. Possibilities and rates vary per week, sometimes even per day, and we try to absorb the enormous fluctuations by using variable surcharges. This situation will not change much in the second quarter of 2021. In recent weeks it has turned out that space has become even tighter because airlines simply no longer fly on certain routes.
Surcharges
As usual, we will charge the additional charges for fuel (BAF, LSSC, FSC), currency risks (CAF) and security (SSC, ISPS) as per outlay. Where possible, we have combined surcharges to limit the number of quotation and invoicing lines. Surcharges as a direct result of the Corona crisis will be charged as per outlay for all trade lanes and traffic sorts.