WTSA to boost rates to recover US-Asia fuel costs from April

Effective from the same date, a US$200 per FEU adjustment will be applied to collected surcharge levels for wastepaper shipments. Proportionate adjustments will be applied to shipments involving other equipment sizes, and to cargo not rated on a per-container basis.

"The scheduled adjustments still do not achieve full recovery of fuel cost impacts reflected in the Agreement's published surcharge, which is set according to an established formula and adjusted monthly as world bunker fuel prices fluctuate. The formula has been in place, in its current form, since 2002 and is not intended to recover carriers' entire fuel costs but rather to address price volatility that can add significantly to transpacific operating costs.

WTSA members are: APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Cosco Container Lines, "K" Line, Evergreen Line, NYK, OOCL, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag Lloyd and Yangming Marine Transport.