Carriers plan rate hike in Asia-U.S. trade

Transpacific Stabilization Agreement’s 15 members plan plan $600 per FEU hike.    The 15 container shipping lines that belong to the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said Friday they are proposing a $600-per-40-foot container rate increase for all origins and destinations, to take effect on Feb. 9, 2015.
   In announcing the plan, the TSA said it was in anticipation of strong pre-Lunar New Year shipments from Asia to the U.S. and “to ensure that carrier costs are adequately recovered coming out of the slower winter season.
   “This is a very challenging operating environment for transpacific container lines,” said TSA executive administrator Brian Conrad, “and it is critical to maintaining service levels that they not leave money on the table during the Lunar New Year period.”
   Conrad emphasized that, while some carriers have reported profitability in the trade in recent quarters, it has come almost entirely from cost-cutting as revenues have shown only marginal improvement over time.
   The 15 members of the TSA are: APL, China Shipping, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai, “K” Line, Maersk, MSC, NYK, OOCL, Yang Ming, and Zim.