Fuel rise hits sea freight

By CHRIS DANIELS

Exporters and importers shipping goods across the Tasman have been hit with a huge jump in fuel charges imposed by shipping companies.

The companies yesterday announced a new series of price hikes, some as much 85 per cent, for the fuel-charge component of shipping fees, known as bunker adjustment factors.

They have also announced large increases in what they describe as an "emergency bunker surcharge", which they say relates to the volatile state of the world oil markets.

Around one million shipping containers come through New Zealand ports in a year, meaning the new charges, if applied across the board, would cost exporters and importers an extra $130 million.

One transtasman shipping line, Contship, said yesterday that it would more than double its emergency surcharge from $64 to $160 for each 20ft container. This new charge applies to all goods being shipped from Australia to New Zealand.

The Fesco line said each container would be charged a fuel fee of $300, rather than the present $162.

Rosemarie Dawson, executive director of the Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association, said exporters and importers had been given little notice of the spectacular increases in fuel charge, which were a "rip-off".

Lance Evans, managing director of freight forwarding and logistics company Eculine, said the rates hikes were not justified at a time when similar charges were coming down in other parts of the world.

The so-called emergency bunker surcharge was no such thing, as it did not relate to any emergency and was being increased only on transtasman shipping.

Many of the ships that were charging the new fee did not even get their fuel in New Zealand or Australia, but bunkered in Asia or the United States. Graham Boult, past president of the New Zealand Export Institute and managing director of Auckland's Consolidated Marketing, said that taken in isolation, an extra $20 to $100 for each shipping container was annoying, but not necessarily detrimental to exports.

However, combined with other factors such as the recent jump in the value of the New Zealand dollar, it would have a big impact.

Many goods exported from New Zealand were low value and commodity-based, meaning a small increase per container placed a bigger burden on exporters.

Yesterday's price increases were just the latest act in the increasingly popular practice of imposing fuel-related surcharges and levies. Air New Zealand has a fuel surcharge ranging from 10c to 30c a kilogram, depending on distance travelled, although Qantas and British Airways dropped their temporary fuel surcharges last month.