Lines slap on Far East surcharge

Alan Peat SAFARI HAS announced a peak season surcharge on the Far East trade - with the other consortia and the independents expected to follow in due course. The members of the consortium are: Mitsui OSK Line (MOL); Kawasaki Kisen (K Line); Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC); Maersk Sealand; and Safmarine. But the lines have been accused of unfair money-making by the shippers, and even voices in the industry have questioned the validity of the surcharge. According to a Safmarine letter to customers, and confirmed by the Safari Cape Town office, a surcharge of US$100 per 20-foot (6-metre) and US$200 per 40-ft (12-m) container will be applied from August 1 to November 30. This on all incoming cargo from the east - except from Japan. "All contracted cargo," said the Saf notification, "will be exempt from this surcharge unless otherwise advised." The reasoning again was a shortage of space on the westbound leg and pressures put on the lines to meet market demand. Nonetheless, it has seriously peeved the SA Shippers Council, according to executive director, Nolene Lossau. "I don't accept it," she told FTW. "If there's more cargo, they should charter in more vessels. "They're obviously throwing it out to see if they can get away with it." It's not that easy, according to Andre Naude of PONL. "Adding vessels is a very expensive way of overcoming the problem," he said, and not necessarily any cheaper for shippers. "A sudden peak of cargo movement is very difficult to provide service for and surcharges are common practice worldwide." Naude also added that the line's Far East office had not yet announced the surcharge. "But I expect we'll again follow," he said. Murray Grindrod, m.d. of Quadrant Container Line, and a member of the Good Hope Express (GEX) consortium, also described it as "inevitable". The independents, as in the last two years, are also expected to tag along - "If market conditions are right," said one. But SA shippers feel that they're not right, according to Lossau. "We fully support free market principles," she said, "but I'd question whether this is a case of true supply and demand factors." What's needed in SA, Lossau added, is a similar relationship between shippers and shipping lines to that in Japan. "You'll notice the exception of Japanese cargo under the surcharge, " she said. "That's because, by law, any changes in rates or the like have to be passed by the Japan Shippers Council. And I figure the lines can't get this surcharge past the council. "We could do with the same thing here, if we want to avoid the lines arbitrarily tossing in things like this peak season surcharge - when we don't think it's merited."