Fortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be under control in many countries at the moment, but the logistical challenges of the past year continue. In fact, it currently looks like we're in situation of ever-increasing rates and never-ending delays and capacity issues.
World trade is booming and there is still a huge shortage of space on container vessels and on board of (cargo) aircraft. The capacity problems for both sea freight and air freight, but also the rates are increasing for imports from Asia in particular, but also exports to North America are unprecedented and have now reached extreme heights. The end of this development is still not in sight and experts are expecting a stabilization at the earliest in Q2 2022.
We have never seen such a development before, it is currently almost impossible to issue rates with a certain validity. We have therefore decided not to issue any new rate sheets for the 3rd quarter of 2021. The basic rates of the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2021 will continue to apply and the fluctuations will be balanced by surcharges like PSS, GRI or Corona surcharge.
Our customers asking for market trends, therefore we have tried to provide a reasonable overview of current market developments.
Ocean freight
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Import Asia
Rates for the import of full containers from China and South East Asia to Europe have now risen to around USD 15,000.00 per 40ft container and further increases are expected. We have already explained the reasons for this many times in previous letters and news bulletins, you will find more about it on our website www.intervracht.nl. As usual we compensate the rate fluctuations with our variable PSS surcharge
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North America export FCL
On the North Atlantic shipping lanes we have seen the rates doubled in recent months and further increases are expected in Q3. Depending on the sailing area, rate increases of USD 500.00 to USD 1,000.00 per TEU are expected. That is why we are currently unable to issue fixed rates for full containers to America, but we will provide you with a rate on request.
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North America export LCL
Shipping companies have implemented significantly higher rates and surcharges for the routes (via Canada) to Chicago this year. This also has a substantial effect on our ocean freight LCL rates to the US. We have incorporated these rate increases in our rates in a separate GRI surcharge.
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Other sailing areas
For the other sailing areas in which we are active, such as the Middle East, South America and Australia, we also see significant rate increases, here also rates will be provided on request.
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Capacity, transit times and Premium rate
There is a limited capacity for almost all sailing areas and it is advisable to pass on your bookings well in time and to take into account longer transit times than normal. On certain sailing areas the waiting time to board is sometimes several weeks. Only if the shipper is willing to pay a Premium surcharge on top of the already higher rates shipping lines are willing to guarantee space on board. Surcharges of USD 1,500.00 to USD 2,500.00 per container for America export and USD 5,000.00 per container for China import are no exception depending on the type of container and the final destination.
Air freight
The rates for air freight shipments are still unprecedentedly high and unpredictable. Options and rates vary per week, sometimes even per day, and we try to accommodate the huge fluctuations through variable surcharges. Not much will change about this situation in the 3rd quarter of 2021. For American imports, a new “export screening fee” of USD 0.18 per kg has been introduced, which we have to charge per outlay to our customers.
Surcharges
As usual, we will pass on the additional charges for fuel (BAF, LSSC, FSC), currency risks (CAF) and security (SSC, ISPS) known to you. Where possible, we have combined surcharges to limit the number of quotation and invoicing lines. Fuel surcharges are currently on the rise again due to high oil prices. Surcharges as a result of the Corona crisis will be charged as per outlay for all trade lanes and traffic sorts.