TRANSATLANTIC CARRIERS ASK $320-PER-TEU RATE INCREASE

TRANSATLANTIC CARRIERS ASK $320-PER-TEU RATE INCREASE    Shipping lines of the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement have notified shippers of their plan to introduce large rate increases in the westbound northern Europe-to-U.S. trade, effective Oct. 1.
   The “general rate increase” amounts to $320 per 20-foot container, $400 per 40 or 45-foot container, or $20 per freight ton.
   The Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement had warned last month (July) of what it described as the “compelling need for the introduction of a westbound general tariff rate increase programme.”
   “This increase is needed to move towards restoring profitability in the trade to underpin the level of service demanded by customers,” a spokesman for the carrier group said.
   As usual, the rate increase will not apply to shippers’ existing service contracts, but it will be used a negotiation benchmark for future contracts and for cargoes that move under tariff rates.
   The Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement carriers are Atlantic Container Line, Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Maersk Sealand, NYK Line, Orient Overseas Container Line and P&O Nedlloyd.