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Danish shipping line Maersk is increasing prices by US$600 ($850) per 20ft equivalent container next year on routes from Europe.
The shipping line that carries about 40 per cent of the seafreight to and from New Zealand plans to increase prices by US$200 per 20ft equivalent container on April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2007.
The increases cover routes to New Zealand, Australia and South Pacific islands from Britain, northern Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Maersk is the main carrier of Fonterra's freight.
Eivind Kolding, chief executive of AP Moller Maersk's container shipping business, has said margins on container freight almost disappeared in 2006 as freight rates went down and fuel prices went up. He expected margins to improve next year but not return to the heights of 2005. Maersk has an 18 per cent share of the global container shipping market.
- NZPA
