Tighter EU import requirements proving 'a challenge' for forwarders
“Stricter Customs regulations” from the EU’s ICS2 will see “stricter enforcement”, Hapag-Lloyd has warned, and ...
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By Mike Wackett
Ocean carriers are heavily discounting spot cargo from Asia as ‘top up’ for their much higher paying contract business.
But steep rises in bunker prices and skyrocketing operating costs suggest pre-pandemic rate levels are unsustainable in the longer-term.
Overshadowed by Hapag-Lloyd’s record $14.7bn net profit for the first nine months of this year was the 22% spike in its transport expenses per unit, compared with the same period of 2021.
The headline was a 71% spike in bunker expenses, but there were also ...
Comment on this article
Brad Fallon
November 14, 2022 at 4:54 pmThe carriers are clearly in it for themselves and really don’t care about any long term relationships. Over the last few years, rates skyrocketed to unprecedented levels and carriers sold space to the highest bidders. They used every means to add more money to their bottom line. They broke laws and damaged the economies of many, it not all countries.
I really find it hard to find any sympathy for their current plight. I, like many, have already blacklisted the worst offenders and will hopefully never have to use them again.
Daniel Pettersson
November 14, 2022 at 5:25 pmHaha. A bit too early to talk about liners going out of business
Confident that most importers would love to see a year or two of unsustainable rates for the liners too. Zero sympathy out there right now.