January GRI Announcement
Stockwells has been notified that a number of shipping lines will be implementing a January GRI (General Rate Increase) of USD$300/TEU in full on top of existing market rates. The GRI will be applicable to all southbound shipments ex Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to all ports in Australia.
A GRI is also likely to be imposed for shipments ex Europe for January 2020, this rate will be USD$100/TEU and be applied to all Australian ports.
Terminal Charge Increases
As per our last news alert, we have received confirmation from Australian stevedores that various terminal infrastructure charges and vehicle booking fees will be increasing, effective 1st January 2020. As stated in the below article, the ACCC are currently investigating some of these increases, however these will still stand until the investigation is over. Unfortunately, Stockwellโs will not be able to absorb these costs and we will need to pass this to our clients. Please see a complete list of updated rates below for each State;
ACCC Investigate Stevedores Over Infrastructure Surcharges
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) highlights for the second year in a row significant regulatory issues surrounding stevedore’s unilateral and uncontrolled use of infrastructure surcharges on container trucking and rail providers.
The ACCC foresees port users continuing to be subject to increasing infrastructure charges, with Hutchison increasing its charges in Sydney in November and DP World increasing charges at all its terminals from January 2020.
The Transport Worker’s Union (TWU) has taken a stand, accusing the stevedores of “heaping financial pressure on transport companies and putting safety at risk”, pointing to the ACCC report showing stevedore revenues generated by access fees rising 63 per cent to $167 million in 2018/19.
The full article can be accessed here.
Chinese New Year
Stockwells would like to notify clients that Chinese New Year falls on the 25th of January 2020 and the Chinese workforce will be absent from the 24th of January to the 30th of January. Sea freight shipping ex China will be challenging based on how short the gap is between Christmas and Chinese New Year. To be prepared, we do recommend shipping in mid-late December and holding stock in Australia if possible as the weeks either side of Chinese New Year will be chaotic and space issues may arise.
Implementation of IMO2020 Surcharges
Important notice to our valued clients,
With International Maritime Organization (IMO) introducing regulations to limit Sulphur content in fuel oil used by the ocean carriers from 3.5% to 0.5% effective 1st January 2020, shipping lines have begun to implement/increase their low sulphur surcharge (LSS), which is also commonly known as IMO2020 Surcharge. This is going to result in a significant increase to both FCL and LCL shipping prices, to and from every port around the globe and we urge our clients to read the below attachment which goes into more detail on the implementation of the low sulphur limit / IMO 2020.
Stockwell International IMO 2020 Information Document
The transition to low-sulphur fuel will be challenging and expensive for the entire sea freight industry so we thank our customers for their understanding during this period.
Whilst we are still awaiting final confirmation of this charge from some shipping lines, please see below for FCL and LCL IMO2020 related surcharges, due to come into effect 1st December 2019. Please use these charges as a guide as they may be subject to change at any time.
FCL Import Surcharges
New Zealand
LCL Surcharges
