Industry sceptical about the impact
Although the
Chinese
authorities last
month decided
to compel shipping lines to
end arbitrary surcharges,
and major shipping lines
followed by slashing
surcharges by up to 50%
in the hope of boosting
slack traffic, “you wouldn’t
notice the difference”
according to members of
the Chinese forwarding
industry.
According to the China
Shippers’ Association
(CSA), shipping companies
today impose more than
20 kinds of surcharges in
the country. And, although
forwarders around the
world affected by these
surcharges describe these
mysterious “admin” and
other improbable charges
as “inventive”, they are
also adamant that they are
“unjustified”.
They are different from
freight rates in that they
are collected on land for
various purposes such
as customs clearance
and documentation. And
FTW has been told by
local forwarders that they
are usually steep, nontransparent,
and often
allegedly unnecessary.
So far, following
government pressure, 11
international and domestic
shipping companies,
including the shipping
giants Maersk and CMA
CGM, have announced
reductions in surcharges
– although insiders told
the Chinese press that it
was unlikely this would
make any difference to
dwindling trade.
And freight forwarders
are hardly excited,
according to the South
China Morning Post,
telling the newspaper that
the likes of “document
amendment” fees
remained unchanged.
One added that the net
gain of these supposedly
major cuts was minimal.
“On average,” he
told the Post, “the
saving is only about 10%
compared with the current
surcharge payments.”
And, with the market
in a downturn, many
shipping companies have
already cut freight rates
sharply, and these could
result in more savings
than cut surcharges –
which, in general, amount
to US$300-US$500 per
container in China.
Currently, for example,
sending a container from
Shanghai to Southeast
Asia costs only US$50,
which is less than a sixth
of the related surcharges.
In light of this rather
unimpressive attempt
to cut surcharges, the
European Shippers’
Council (ESC) has
called for their complete
banning.
“Shippers do not accept
the ocean carriers’ claim
that they operate in a
unique environment
and they are a special
case deserving special
protection from market
forces,” it said. “Shippers
face similar business risk
when trading in global
markets; they are unable
to pass on additional costs
incurred through the use
of surcharges.
“The absence of
transparency in the
imposition of surcharges
and their being used as
a means of obtaining
additional revenues, has
led us to call for their
abolition.”
