Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments have eased slightly this month in line withfalling crude oil prices around the world in recent months and after several months of surcharge
increases earlier this year.The four leading international air express operators – DHL, UPS, FedEx and TNT – have reducedsurcharges in Europe and Asia in some cases and left US surcharges unchanged in June, CEP-Researchanalysis showed.
In Europe, surcharges dropped back slightly from last month. DHL reduced its surcharge to 18per cent from 18.5 per cent in May, while TNT Express’ surcharge dropped back to 21.5 per cent from22 per cent last month. UPS and FedEx both kept their European surcharges unchanged at 18 per cent.
In the USA, FedEx, UPS and DHL all maintained their surcharges at 14.5 per cent this month.
In Asia Pacific, DHL left its surcharge at 24.5 per cent and UPS was also unchanged at 22 percent. But TNT Express reduced its Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa surcharge to 21 per centfrom 21.5 per cent last month while the FedEx surcharge dropped to 18.5 per cent from 19 per cent.
The air express fuel surcharges for June 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.
The June surcharge levels, which follow hikes in March, April and May, reflect astabilisation of oil prices in April and a downward trend since May. The price of Brent Crude oilhas dropped from a peak of more than $125 per barrel in March to below $100 this month, and wastrading at just over $97 per barrel today.
This trend suggests that air express surcharges will further drop back in July and August toreflect the lower oil price level in May and June due to the two-month time lag between fuel priceand surcharge implementation.
