Alan Peat THE FAR East shipping conference has slipped in a general rates increase GRI), but it still leaves base rates only about break-even, according to shipping executives. The 12-member lines of the G8 (Asia/SA) forum have announced that rates will rise by US$200 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) for full container loads, and US$10 per registered ton for less-than container load (LCL) shipments from July 1. But this increase, while arithmetically big as a percentage of the current rate (about 50%, FTW is told), does little more than pull lines’ revenue up from a worse loss situation prevalent over the last three years. “With this sort of rise, most lines are going from about US$400-US$600 for SA import cargoes,” said one source. “But that’s still way below any profitable level.” Another said that rates in 1990, and before, were about US$1100-US$1150 for incoming boxes. For SA export boxes, he added, they were getting about US$800-US$900 before 2000, but then that slipped - first to US$650-US$850 at the turn of the millennium, then even further to the present US$250-US$450 level for big volume cargoes. “It’s still capacity looking for a profit,” he told FTW. They both look with jealous eyes at the Asia-US trade. “Three GRIs since that 911 incident,” our executive added, “and all because of the right supply/demand ratio.” The Asia/SA conference includes: Safmarine; Maersk Sealand; P&O Nedlloyd; Evergreen; Mitsui-OSK Line; NYK; Cosco; Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC); Kien Hung Shipping; K Line; CMA CGM; and Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV). The two other independents - who had not revealed whether they were following the G8 lead by print deadline - are Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Pacific International Line (PIL).
