Southeast Asia trade tries for GRI from April

A General Rate Increase (GRI) will be introduced in South East Asian trade from April.

According to the Committee of Shipowner’s for Asian Liners under the Korean Shipowner’s Association on March 11, Korean shipping companies that operate vessels in Southeast Asian trades decided to recover freight rates as shipping companies have suffered from sluggish cargoes and vessel over-supply in the trade, resulting in plummeting freight rates and repositioning empty containers.

First, Philippines trades will introduce a US $50 raise per container from April 1 where import cargoes are less than 20% of export cargoes. Indonesian and Thai trades are also discussing similar freight rates recovery levels.

“We are discussing levying demurrage on import cargoes to upgrade our service through cost cuts. Container cleaning fees will also be charged from April 1,” said an official at the committee.

The committee is considering collaborating with foreign shipping companies through IADA (Intra Asia Discussion Agenda) regarding those efforts.