The recent announcement by the Far East carriers that rates on the inbound trade lane would be increased, smacks of price-fixing and collusion.
At a meeting in Cape Town recently, the G8 Forum - comprising 13 of the 15 shipping lines plying the Far East/South Africa route (the exceptions being ALS & MSC) - agreed upon a quantum increase in current rates of freight of U$200/20' and U$400/40' effective 1 July 1999 - an increase of nearly 30% on current ocean freight rates from Hong Kong to SA.
The Japan & Hong Kong/SA Shipping Conference were the first to formally announce the increase in FTW (11 June 1999). The independent lines have subsequently also announced the increase of U$200/20' U$400/40' effective same date. On checking, we have been advised that the GRIs are not negotiable . Carriers' reps have furthermore advised that any prior rate agreements which fixed ocean freight rates until year end would be reneged upon - even if those agreements were committed to writing as recently as four weeks ago.
Any protestations about the severity of the rate hike have been met with thinly veiled threats that low paying freight will simply be shut out in favour of higher paying freight. Which is really holding the South African importer to ransom.
We know that inbound rates have been in a downward spiral for the past eighteen months, we accept that the route needed some rationalisation, we anticipated a GRI and alerted our clients to the prospect of a rate hike - but a non negotiable, formally fixed U$200/20' & U$400/40' is simply not cricket!
Let us allow free enterprise, market forces, independent negotiation between carrier/client and common sense to prevail!
Sharon Hindle, Panalpina, Johannesburg.
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