Container xChange’s Demurrage & Detention Benchmark 2022 report, ranks the most expensive global ports for D&D charges levied by container lines on customers two weeks after cargo arrives at the port or is discharged from the vessel.
Even as US regulators have taken a keen interest in container line behavior amid soaring US inflation and historically high shipping costs, US ports occupy the top five spots in Container xChange’s rank list of “60 ports ranked by highest to lowest D&D charges across shipping lines”.
New York leads the way in 1st place followed by the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Savannah. All five ports are more than 2-3 times more expensive than Hong Kong in the 7th spot and at least 20 times more expensive than leading Asian container hubs such as Dalian in China and Busan in Korea.
Global average D&Ds fall
Container xChange’s Demurrage & Detention Benchmark 2022 report notes that global average D&D charges levied by container lines on customers two weeks after the cargo was discharged from the vessel increased by 38% for standard-sized containers from $586 in 2020 to $868 in 2021.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
So far in 2022, average D&D charges by major ports have declined to an average of $664 per container by 26%, although fees remain far higher than pre-pandemic at around 12%.
Even so, the U.S. shippers are not benefitting from these global declines in D&D charges. For example, in May 2022 the average charges levied by container lines on customers two weeks after a box was discharged from the vessel at the port of Long Beach was $2730 per container, up from $2638 a year earlier. At the port of Los Angeles in May 2022, the average D&D fees increased from $2594 per container in 2021 to $2672 per container.
Fees vary by port and carrier
Container xChange’s Demurrage & Detention Benchmark 2022 report also notes that D&D charges vary widely by port and by the carrier. Of the leading container lines across ports, COSCO currently has the lowest D&D charges while HMM’s D&D fees are the highest.
By region, D&D charges in May in the US were the highest at £2,692 per container. This compared to $549 in Europe, $482 in India, $453 in China, and $366 in the ‘Rest of Asia’.
Container xChange’s Demurrage & Detention Benchmark 2022 report also outlines how choosing the right carrier for a specific port can significantly impact D&D costs.
For example, notes the report, at Rotterdam in mid-year, average D&D charges at the end of the two-week period were $564 per container. However, shipping with ONE costs $809 per container “which, when compared to the port’s average D&D charges, will escalate your container shipping costs by 43%”.
EXPLORE MORE AT CONTAINER XCHANGE’S REPORT
