Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments during March have gone up slightly after adramatic slump last month as oil prices started to rise again after a strong downward trend,
CEP-Research analysis shows. The upward trend could continue over the next few months.In the USA, where surcharges dropped the most in February, there is a moderate rise. InEurope and Asia, surcharges are generally at last month’s levels, with a few minor increases.
Oil prices rose nearly 4% on Tuesday on expectations that producer group OPEC will cut outputagain and as stock markets traded higher. Oil settled at $41.65 a barrel, up $1.50 or 3.74%, whilein London the Brent crude oil price rose $1.46 to $43.70 a barrel. Slumping demand due to theglobal recession had sent crude prices off highs above $147 a barrel in July, prompting theOrganisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to agree to a series of deep production cuts, thenews agency Reuters reported. This indicates that surcharges in April and May may rise somewhat asa result.
The air express fuel surcharges for March reflect the oil price level two months ago. Thefour leading express carriers calculate their surcharges based on indexes showing the previousmonth’s oil price level and announce them in advance for the following month. This results in atwo-month time lag between prices and the surcharge level.
In the USA, all the three integrators FedEx Express, UPS and DHL have slightly increasedtheir March 2009 fuel surcharges for domestic and international air express shipments from 1% inFebruary to 2.5% in March.
In Europe, air express surcharges generally remain on the same level as last month. DHLsurcharges are unchanged at 9%, while UPS and FedEx surcharges remain at 10% and 9.5% respectively.However, TNT Express has increased its European fuel surcharge to 9.5% for the 1-28 March periodfrom the previous 8% while its separate UK surcharge has risen slightly from 4% in February to 5%for March.
Showing a similar trend as Europe, DHL and TNT air express surcharges in Asia are stable inMarch at 9.5% and 9% respectively. UPS and FedEx, however, have slightly increased their surchargesin the Asia-Pacific region. UPS’ surcharge has risen from 10.5% in February to 11% in March. FedEx,whose surcharges vary by country in Asia, has increased the export and import fuel surcharges inboth Singapore and in Hong Kong to 8% from the previous 7.5%.
