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A rate hike for steamship companies? Are you kidding?

July 30, 2009

There is no doubt that steamship companies that transport containers of furniture to U.S. ports are being hammered by the recession, but a recent effort to push through huge rate increases isn’t going to help their plight.

In fact, the effort is almost laughable.

A consortium of companies that operate routes between Asia and the U.S. says its members need an increase of $500 per 40-foot container — about a 30% jump from current prices. Plus, they want to implement a quarterly fuel surcharge that would add another $188 for containers going to the West Coast and $385 for East Coast-bound containers.

And if that’s not enough, the shippers group, known formally as the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, says it also is studying the implementation of a peak-season surcharge that would be added for containers shipped in July, August, September and October.

The last time I checked, this country was in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and containerized shipments of furniture this year were projected to be 16.5% below 2008. And these guys are trying to get a price hike of more than 30%?

Good luck with that.

Posted by Larry Thomas on July 30, 2009 | Comments (2)

August 24, 2009
In response to: A rate hike for steamship companies? Are you kidding?
Pierce Sun commented:

Another bad news for me...


August 3, 2009
In response to: A rate hike for steamship companies? Are you kidding?
Orozco commented:

Steamship lines are finally banding together to survive. Competition within themselves was driving prices down to the lowest levels ever seen from Asia.
I have to beleive that current rates don't cover thier operating costs. Time to lock in rates.

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