Starting from May 15, rates will be raised on goods transported to the Far East, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and the East Coast of South America.
Beginning May 15, the Danish shipping company Maersk Line said its rates for the Far East (excluding Japan), the Middle East and the Sub Indian continent will see an overall increase of $500 per 20-foot container and $1,000 per container measuring 40 feet, 40 feet HC, and 45 feet of dry cargo.
The high price of bunker fuel is requiring carriers to update their tariffs, increasing the costs for exporting and importing, affecting international trade.
The cost of sending goods from, say, Costa Rica to the United States has risen significantly due to increased bunker fuel prices, the price of which was quoted at the beginning of the week at $600 a barrel.
Most shipping companies have agreed to pay carriers between $1.26 and $1.29 per kilometre as a re-adjustment.
After nearly a week of strikes, 10 of the 15 shipping companies operating in the country agreed to concede to the demands of freight carriers, and they will pay an adjustment per kilometre of between $1.26 and $1.29.
The Salvadoran Association of International Cargo Transport has announced that from next week there will be an adjustment in freight prices.
Raul Alfaro, president of the Salvadoran Association of International Cargo Carriers (ASTIC), said that what carriers want is an adjustment of freight prices, which they have avoided for a long time despite increases in the price of diesel.
In Nicaragua, the transport companies are warning of a 50% increase in charges caused by the continuing rise in fuel prices.
Freight transportation businesses operating in the country and in Central America are warning of a likely increase of 50% from the current rate, while inter-city transport operators want an increase of more than 35%.
Transport companies are pushing the government to lower the price of diesel, their main raw material whose price has increased by 7% in the last two months.
In just the first two months of 2012, the price of a gallon of diesel has gone up 27 cents, an increase of 7%.
The Freight Business Association announced adjustments of 38% and 100% in freight rates.
For distances less than 500 km the increase is 38% ($ 1.45 per km). For distances over 1,000 kilometers up to 100% (the current rate in Panama is $ 1 per km).
Honduran haulage contractors have announced a blockade of goods coming from Nicaragua at the end of the month.
The announcement was released in Honduran press by Benjamín Castro, president of the country's FreightTransport Chamber, who did not reveal the exact date chosen.
Central American cargo companies want Nicaragua to stop charging a 20% toll over the price of each transportation service.
In order to achieve this, delegates from the Central American Chamber of Transport Companies (Catransca), met with representatives of the Nicaraguan Transportation Ministry.
Héctor Fajardo, vice president of the chamber, told Prensalibre.com: “the objective of the meeting is getting Nicaragua to waive these dispositions that affect ground transportation and violate the framework agreement for Central American integration”.
The Salvadoran Association of Cargo Transportation Companies announced they will increase fees by 20%.
Nelson Vanegas, president of the Association (known as Asetca), explained the increase as a result of higher fuel prices. Asteca gathers over 60 of all cargo transportation companies in the country.
When importing goods, Latin America spends almost twice as much as the United States in transportation costs.
High transportation costs in Latin America and the Caribbean complicate commerce and drag down productivity, in addition to protecting inefficient companies and hampering the expansion of the most competitive producers, showed a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Maritime shipping rates for cargo have no gone down despite the reduction in the price of oil on the international market, according to importers and exporters.
According to prensalibre.com, "Jean Paul Brichaux, executive director of the Council of International Transport Users of Guatemala (Cutrigua), explained that the shipping agencies increased their rates between May and August to up to $700.
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