Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments have continued to show an uneven trendaround the world in January with integrators decreasing their US rates while surcharges in Europe
and Asia either rose or remained at the same level, according to CEP-Research analysis.The mixed trend emerged at the end of last year after a few ups and downs in the second half of2011. In the first half of last year, in contrast, the surcharges gradually increased following theuprisings in Arab countries.
In Europe, UPS didn’t change its surcharges in January keeping them at 17%, the level of thelast two months. FedEx and DHL both increased their European surcharge to 17.5% from 17% inDecember while TNT raised its European and UK surcharges to 20.5% from 20% and to 14% from 13.5%respectively.
In the USA, FedEx, UPS and DHL all decreased their January surcharge after keeping them at thesame level of 14% in December. FedEx and DHL both decreased the US surcharge to 13% while UPSsurcharge went even further down to 12.5%. However, these reductions were linked to the increasesin standard rates that the three companies introduced at the start of January.
Surcharges in Asia showed a mixed trend. FedEx, whose surcharges vary by country in Asia, raisedits surcharge both in Singapore and Hong Kong to 17% for the time period January 2 – February 5from 16.5% in December. The UPS surcharge dropped to 20% in January from 21.5% in December whileDHL kept its surcharge at 23%, the same level as in December.
The air express fuel surcharges for January reflect the oil price level two months ago. The fourleading express carriers calculate their surcharges based on indices showing the previous month’soil price level and announce them in advance for the following month. This results in a two-monthtime lag between prices and the surcharge level.
World oil prices are now rising on improving economic outlook following manufacturing gains inDecember in China and the USA and increasing confidence that Europe’s debt crisis will be resolved,according to international media reports. As a result, oil was up on the New York MercantileExchange yesterday afternoon at $102.69 a barrel and Brent futures in London gained 82 cents risingto $113.27.
Last year, oil prices started out strongly with Brent futures climbing to over $120 a barrel,the highest level since August 2008. This was a dramatic increase compared to mid-November 2010when oil prices traded slightly above $80. But by the middle of 2011, prices had started to fallagain on continuing fears over the debt crisis in Greece and Europe and the state of the globaleconomic recovery. In the second half of the year, prices were going up and down.
During the last quarter of the year, oil prices showed a mixed trend on concerns over theEuropean debt crisis leading to an uneven trend in air express fuel surcharges around theworld.
