The Hindu Business Line : Shipping lines going slow on procurement of new biz

Also, the shipping lines now are insisting on low-weight cargo. This is because the mainline vessels will generally accept about 12-13 tonnes per TEU. If heavy weight cargoes are offered by the feeder operators, to that extent the number of slots in mainline vessels will get reduced.

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Aug. 30 Perhaps for the first time in many years, some of the shipping lines picking up cargoes at Kolkata port, particularly for the UK/Continent and West Asian destinations, are pursuing what is being called “a de-marketing strategy”, i.e. going slow over procurement of new business. The reason: Non-availability of slots in mainline vessels at the transhipment hubs.

The west-bound mainline vessels from China are coming to Singapore/ Colombo, the two major transhipment hubs in the region, virtually choc-a-bloc with cargoes and, therefore, often refusing cargoes brought to the hubs by the feeder vessels from various ports in the sub-continent. There has been cargo shutouts, roll-overs and all kinds of problems in recent times, much to the chagrin of the shippers concerned.

Interestingly, all this is happening at a time when there is no apparent shortage of containers and the freight rates are skyrocketing. The basic freight for the UK/Continent from here ranges between $1,200 and $1,500 per TEU depending on the nature of cargo, the weight and its transit sensitivity.

Added to the basic rates are bunker adjustment factor ($250 per TEU), currency adjustment factor (14 per cent of basic freight), ISPS or security cost ($10) and terminal handling charges. In case of forty-ft box, the basic freight now varies between $2,000 and $2,500 and the bunker adjustment factor comes to about $500 plus other charges as admissible. Only about six months ago, the basic freight was as low as $700/750 per TEU.

The eastern Indian exporters to West Asian ports such as Jebel Ali and Bunder Abbas are particularly finding it hard to get slots for those two ports at Colombo, so much so on several occasions the consignments had to be carried to JNPT for another round of transhipment.