Asian shippers continue surcharge offensive

Asian shippers continue surcharge offensive    Asian shippers will be at a distinct disadvantage in coming years unless the region passes holistic regulation that prevents carriers from jointly assessing surcharges to origin shippers, the Asian Shippers' Council said.
   For example, Chinese shippers paid $7 billion in surcharges in 2008, the council said.
   'Asia is the only major trading bloc that has no proper regulatory protection for their shippers against liner shipping (conferences),' the ASC said in a statement Monday. 'Over the past years, liners continue to collude to impose new and higher surcharges on the back of global financial crisis and containership overcapacity. Unless there is maritime regulatory reform, similar to those in Europe and America, Asian shippers will be at a disadvantage, losing billions each year.'
   The council spelled out exactly what shippers in Asia are facing in the form of surcharges. From Singapore, shippers moving cargo to the United States or Europe face:
   ' A $60 document set fee.
   ' A $35 advance manifest surcharge.
   ' A $180-per-TEU terminal handling charge.
   Though the fees are assessed once and theoretically are paid by the consignee, ASC has said the reality is that the consignee often forces the shipper at origin to pay these fees. Added to those regular fees are peak season surcharges and bunker adjustment factors that can be as much as $700 per TEU.
   From Sri Lanka, the ASC said, shippers face a slew of charges, including $25 per bill of lading (and $10 per amendment or correction on a bill of lading).
   'Even the bill of lading, which is the receipt for goods given by the carrier when cargo is handed over to the carrier or its agent, is also charged as a separate payment,' the ASC said. 'This is unimaginable and unacceptable for shippers. What other trade could you find where a receipt is issued and a separate fee for the receipt is charged?'
   ASC said surcharges differ from every country within its sphere of influence. In May Malaysia shippers reported as many as 23 individual surcharges. In Sri Lanka, 11 new surcharges have been added since 2007. Terminal handling charges are common in every Asian country, and usually at high levels relative to the base rate, the council added.
   'This pattern of breaking the freight in to numerous components is continuing, and ironically theses components keep on increasing when the market is in fact reducing the freight levels,' the ASC said. 'So the percentage of surcharges on freight can differ from one trade lane to another and this can be commodity-sensitive as well. That means for low-value products the cost of surcharges are impacting at very high levels.'