The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has described Maersk’s recent imposition of a ‘sulphur surcharge’ as unjustified and blatant profiteering.
According to Maersk, the surcharge could lead to prices of a 40 ft container on the Far East to North Europe route being hiked by anywhere between USD480 to USD840, or by up to USD683 from the Far East to US West Coast.
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Robert Keen, BIFA Director General said that these are very major increases, and they will be received negatively.
While the shipping operators may say that the new BAFs are needed to cover the cost of switching to low sulphur fuels or fitting exhaust ‘scrubbers’, rises of this magnitude are unjustified and could be construed as blatant profiteering by shipping lines determined to exploit the situation.
Earlier this year, a number of container shipping companies announced that they would be imposing “emergency” bunker surcharges in response to rising fuel costs.
The number of surcharges and fees continues to grow, while many of them do not have real explanation or justification, Mr. Kenn noted.
He also added that while forwarders would continue to do all they can to limit surcharges, at least some of the cost had to be passed on to forwarders’ customers.
