Dear Sir or Madam
As various press releases in the last few days have revealed, after the Chinese New Year so-called "Blank Sailings" of the shipping lines have once again been announced. These so-called empty shipping’s, i.e. departures cancelled by shipping lines, lead to a shortage of vessel capacity and a significant lack of equipment.
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the resulting extension of the New Year celebrations and stricter government regulations, vessels in Asia were not loaded and unloaded on time during the past weeks. They were or are anchored offshore close to the ports waiting to dock on. In addition, the corona virus causes further unscheduled “Blank Sailings”. Sluggish handling in China has resulted in a massive backlog of import containers, which furthermore has led to increased storage charges and delayed delivery dates. Many shipping lines are currently no longer able to maintain their schedules on their sailings. As things stand today, more than 40 scheduled departures have been cancelled for March and April. There is also a great shortage of empty containers at present.
Influenced by this background, many departures in March and April are already nearly fully booked. Equipment is also becoming increasingly scarce. As of 01.03.2020, shipping lines will therefore be introducing a PSS (Peak Season Surcharge) and/or rate adjustment applicable until further notice. As these developments are beyond NOSTA Sea & Air GmbH control and responsibility , we must pass on the surcharges to you as from the specified date.
The following overview shows the presently announced price adjustments by the shipping lines. Please note that this is a current price overview and that the surcharges may be changed and/or supplemented by further surcharges at any time.
Evergreen | as of 01.03.20 | Rate adjustment USD 575.00 per 20' + 40’ cont. |
COSCO | as of 01.02.20 | PSS USD 300.00 per 20' cont. and 400.00 per 40' cont. |
YANG MING | as of 01.03.20 | Rate adjustment USD 100.00 per cont.+ PSS USD 250.00/cont. |
Hapag-Lloyd | as of 01.03.20 | PSS USD 325.00 per 20'+40' cont. |
Hyundai | as of 01.03.20 | PSS USD 500.00 per 20'+40' cont. |
CMA | as of 01.03.20 | PSS USD 200.00 per 20' cont. and USD 300.00 per 40' cont. |
We are currently facing a similarly difficult situation on the trade from China to Europe as we are with the trade from Europe to China. We will be happy to provide information on this upon request.
The airfreight segment is also noticeably affected by the current events in China. Only a few airlines currently fly to or from China. The cargo capacities of the few airlines serving China are usually booked out two to four weeks in advance. In addition, air freight prices on this route have already increased 10 to 15 times in some cases. When production in China resumes its activities, the situation is likely to further aggravate.
A similar picture emerges for rail freight transport to and from China: currently there are no or only a few departures. The capacity on the trains is accordingly scarce or exhausted.
Of course, we will continuously monitor the development of the price and capacity situation and inform you about the latest events and effects. For more detailed information on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact your familiar contact persons in our company at any time.
Kind regards
NOSTA Sea & Air GmbH
