French shipping group, CMA CGM has become the third container line to introduce temporary bunker surcharges from June 1 this year as carriers continue to struggle with rising fuel prices.
“Due to the significant increase in bunker prices since the beginning of the year, CMA CGM Group will recover bunker costs through its bunker-related surcharges which will be applied to all cargo on all worldwide trades,” said CMA CGM Group CEO and chairman, Rodolphe Saadé, in a statement sent to FTW.
This followed announcements last week by 2M alliance partners, the Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk Line, who said that their decision to introduce a bunker surcharge had been driven by the fact that fuel costs had risen 70% since June last year.
“This unexpected development means that it is no longer possible for us to recover bunker costs through the standard bunker adjustment factors (BAF),” said a Maersk Line spokesperson.
Last week global maritime news company Lloyds List quoted “senior container shipping execs” as saying the container sector would be hit by an additional bill of US$10 billion this year due to escalating oil prices. The publication speculated that this could drive up seafreight rates.
Caption: The CMA CGM Africa.
