PACIFIC CARRIERS EXTEND PEAK SEASON SURCHARGE

PACIFIC CARRIERS EXTEND PEAK SEASON SURCHARGE    Container shipping lines of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement have announced a plan to extend the duration of their $300 peak season surcharge, initially due to expire at the end of September, until Oct. 31.
   The carrier group said that the extension of the $300 per 40-foot container surcharge was necessary in light of the continued strong freight market.
   The surcharge is a premium intended to cover higher equipment positioning, vessel chartering, and other costs associated with the summer-fall peak season.
   Transpacific carriers implemented the peak season surcharge early this year, on June 1, in response to a sharp increase in cargo demand beginning as early as March.
   In previous years, the surcharge “has typically been applied beginning July 1 and ending October 31, although the end date has been flexible depending on cargo volumes from Asia,” a spokesman for the carrier group said.
   “A soft market in late 2001 and early 2002 led to announcement of a shortened peak season ending September 30, but carriers’ internal research and customer feedback now suggest continued strong demand through October,” the carrier group added.
   Shipping lines of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement have indicated “that rising costs over the extended peak season have far outpaced the marginal gains in freight rates achieved so far in 2002.”
   The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement is a discussion group of 14 major container shipping lines, and has no authority to set binding rates and surcharges. The group’s recommendations are implemented individually by agreement members.
   The carriers of the TSA are APL, CMA CGM, COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai, “K” Line, Maersk Sealand, MOL, NYK, Orient Overseas Container Line, P&O Nedlloyd and Yang Ming Marine.