Rate hikes leap 80pc for Vietnamese shippers moving low-cost items
2012 04 14
- Details
VIETNAMESE producers, the new stars of the Asian export world now that Chinese labour costs have risen, are facing an 80 per cent increase in shipping costs that make it difficult to stay in business, reports VietNamNetBridge.
Rates went up US$400 per TEU in January. In February and March, terminal handling charges went up and an eight per cent bunker surcharge was added. In April, Vietnamese shippers faced another $400 per TEU rate hike, which comes to a $1,350 per TEU increase since January, and with other attendant costs, nearly $2,000.
Vietnamese exporters also have to pay a series of fees and surcharges, called local charges, which puts a heavy burden on them, said the report.
A representative of Saigon Palm, which exports bamboo products, said that the export value is low, while the shipping fee is too high. A container of souvenirs, for example, is valued at $10,000 dollars, while the shipping costs alone would cost $2000 dollars.
Import companies have suffered most, because they have to pay freight and other fees. An executive of HL Cargo, a forwarder, said that the freight to Europe has increased by 80 per cent in comparison with the same period of last year.
CMA-CGM Vietnam director Duong Quoc Chien has warned that the fees and surcharges would increase further in the time to come. Shipping firms tend to raise fees to get money to offset the loss they incurred in 2011. The higher fuel cost has also been cited to explain the fee increases.
Mr Chien said that the freight would not increase sharply, but the fees and surcharges would increase.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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