TRANSATLANTIC LINES PLAN NEW WESTBOUND RATE RISES

   The Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement carriers are planning to claw back revenue by introducing another two increases in their westbound tariff rates in October and at the end of the year.
    The move by North Atlantic lines follows reports that full vessels and capacity shortages have reversed the balance of supply and demand to the benefit of shipping lines, after the overcapacity war of the last two years.
    The increases will be the third and fourth this year, following tariff rate rises of $120 to $150 per box in June and the recently-announced introduction of a $250-per-container westbound equipment repositioniong charge, due to be implemented on Sept. 11.
TACA lines will increase westbound tariff rates by $120 per 20-foot container or $150 per 40-footer, a major transatlantic line told American Shipper.
    A further increase, not yet quantified, will follow toward the end of the year.
    Of the increases, only the equipment surcharge applies to service contract rates.
    Because the proportion of transatlantic shipments moved under tariff rates is now 25 percent or less, the tariff increases will affect only a minority of shippers. Increases in tariff rates are likely to be applied to service contracts when the current contracts expire, generally at the end of the December.
    Average transatlantic rates, including tariff and service contract shipments, are still about $200 per TEU lower now, in both the eastbound and westbound trades, than last September, a transatlantic carrier executive said.