Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments during April have fallen again, includingto zero in the USA, as oil prices continue to weaken due to the continuously worsening world
economy, CEP-Research analysis shows.Surcharges in the USA have been cut completely after a moderate rise in March, while there isa moderate decrease in Europe and Asia after stable levels last month. In the USA, FedEx Express,UPS and DHL have reduced their April 2009 fuel surcharges for domestic and international airexpress shipments from 2.5% in March to zero in April.
In Europe, all four integrators moderately reduced their surcharges. DHL surcharges droppedfrom 9% in March to 7.5% in April. Similarly, UPS and FedEx surcharges went down to 8.5% and 8% inApril respectively from 10% and 9.5% last month. TNT Express also reduced its European fuelsurcharge to 7.5% for the 29 March – 2 May period from the previous 9.5% while its separate UKsurcharge remains on the same level as last month at 5%.
Showing a similar trend as in Europe, air express surcharges in Asia have shown a moderatedrop. DHL and TNT surcharges have decreased in April to 8% and 7.5% respectively. Following thedownward tendency, UPS’ surcharge has also fallen from 11% in March to 9.5% in April. FedEx, whosesurcharges vary by country in Asia, has reduced the export and import fuel surcharges in bothSingapore and in Hong Kong to 6.5% from the previous 8%.
Oil prices have risen about 15% this year but remain about 65% below the record levels oflast year. On Monday, oil dropped 2.8% to $51.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange whilein London the Brent crude oil price settled $1.23 lower at $52.24 a barrel, the Wall Street Journalreported. Due to the falling demand, oil prices are expected to decrease further.
The air express fuel surcharges for April 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.
