Psychological Warfare: Peak Season and Other Surcharges in U.S and Korea

North America kept up solid trade conditions for both import and expor
t cargoes coming into this year. The shipping lines drove forward with
rate increases in addition to peak season surcharges and fuel adjustm
ent factors. Shipping lines on North American trade routes imposed an
additional $225 on 20-feet containers, and $340 on 40-feet containers,
from the 1st of July through to the end of November. WTSA (Westbound
Transpacific Stabilization Agreement) carriers began to apply addition
al fuel adjustment fees of $32 per 20 foot equivalent unit, $40 per 40
foot equivalent unit, and $2 per R/T from the 1st of July.
There are also new services opening these days. Since the 28th of June
, Wan Hai Lines, a Taiwanese carrier, has been operating an inbound se
rvice from L.A and Oakland on the west coast of the U.S. to Pusan. Wan
Hai has chartered 1,000 slots from CMA CGM in order to serve this tra
de route. Also, Evergreen, another Taiwanese based carrier, began to o
perate its All-Water service by deploying 9 additional container ships
.
During the first half of this year, the total container cargoes moved
to North America amounted to 261,359 TEU, an increase of 12.2 percent
compared with the same period last year.
Hanjin shipping took the lion's share, 20.48 percent or 53,531 TEU, an
d Hyundai Merchant Marine shared a stake of 16.33 percent or 42,686 TE
U. Choyang Shipping recorded a 5.88 percent share, amounting to 15,379
TEU. The 3 Korean carriers' holdings amounted to 42.7 percent.
APL held a stake of 8.39 percent or 21,922 TEU, and Zim, 8.31 percent
or 21,727 TEU. Maersk-Sealand grabbed holdings of 7.66 percent or 20,0
33 TEU.
During June, container cargoes bound for North America increased sligh
tly to 45,294 TEU compared to the same period of last year.