Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments have dropped in February following amixed trend of increases and reductions over the last few months, according to CEP-Research
analysis.In Europe, all four integrators reduced their surcharges in February with FedEx and DHL ratesdropping to 16.5% from 17.5% in January. UPS also reduced its surcharge to 16.5% this month from17% in January. TNT’s European and UK surcharges fell to 20% from 20.5% and to 13.5% from 14%respectively.
In the USA, FedEx and DHL both decreased their February surcharge to 11.5% from 13% in Januarywhile the UPS surcharge also went down to 11.5% from 12.5% last month.
Following the downward trend in Europe and USA, surcharges in Asia dropped for UPS, DHL andFedEx. The UPS surcharge dropped from 20% in January to 19% in February while DHL fell to 22% thismonth from 23% last month. FedEx, whose surcharges vary by country in Asia, reduced its surchargeboth in Singapore and Hong Kong to 16% for the time period February 6 – March 4 from 17% inJanuary. Only TNT’s Rest Of the World surcharge including Asia remained at the same level inFebruary with 20%.
The air express fuel surcharges for February reflect the oil price level two months ago. Thefour leading express carriers calculate their surcharges based on indices 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.
Oil prices have risen recently almost reaching the high levels of August last year due to theimproving economic outlook following manufacturing gains in December in China and the USA andincreasing confidence that Europe’s debt crisis will be resolved.
World oil prices have risen today after Greece approved the austerity measures to ensure asecond bailout and prevent the country from going bankrupt, according to international mediareports. As a result, oil was up 97 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning at$99.64 a barrel and Brent futures in London gained $1 to $118.31.
The dollar index fell 0.5% giving a boost to the dollar-denominated oil prices as a weaker UScurrency makes the commodity cheaper for consumers using other currencies.
