Reports from the east have headlined shipping majors like Maersk and CMA-CGM working a cut-price gamble for extra business.
They are part of the group off 11 international and domestic shipping companies which have so far announced big reductions in surcharges.
The South China Morning Post, for example, reported the “giants” as “slashing surcharges” by up to 50% to boost traffic – which its contacts in the industry said was a losing bet because of “dwindling” trade anyway.
But whether the lines are indulging in a cut-price foray is uncertain. Reports also revealed that these cuts followed last month’s decision by the ministry of transport that it would “compel” the shipping lines to end arbitrary surcharges.
And there plenty to cut, with the China Shipper’s Association estimating that shipping companies today impose more than 20 kinds of surcharges in the country – many of them for mysterious administrative and other improbable landside charges, and accused by shippers of being “inventive but unjustifiable” .
