Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments dropped further in August after seeing adecrease in July, as crude oil prices around the world have continued to fall in recent months,
following several months of surcharge increases earlier this year.The four leading international air express operators – DHL, UPS, FedEx and TNT – all reducedtheir surcharges in Europe, the US and Asia this month, CEP-Research analysis shows.
In Europe, DHL and FedEx both reduced their surcharge to 16% for the period from 6 August to 2September, from 17% in July, while TNT Express’s European surcharge dropped back to 18.5% from20.5% last month. UPS’s surcharge also fell, to 13.5% in August from 15.5% in July.
In the US, FedEx, UPS and DHL all reduced their surcharges, from 12% in July to 10% thismonth.
In Asia Pacific, DHL, which has the highest level, reduced its surcharge from 23% in July to 21%in August while TNT Express’s surcharge for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa fell to 18.5% from20% for the period 5 August to 1 September. FedEx’s surcharge also fell to 14% in August from 16.5%in July.
The air express fuel surcharges for August reflect the oil price level two months ago. The fourintegrators calculate their surcharges based on indices showing the previous month’s oil pricelevel and announce them in advance for the following month. This results in a two-month time lagbetween fuel-price and surcharge changes.
The August surcharge level continues a downward trend that started in June, following hikes inMarch, April and May.
Since the start of 2012, the price of Brent Crude oil rose from the $105-per-barrel level topeak several times at more than $125 during March. Since then, the oil price level has dropped backto the level seen towards the beginning of the year, now trading at slightly above $100 perbarrel.
Oil prices rose today to about $105 per barrel, boosted by positive Chinese data from HSBC whileinvestors are awaiting statements from the United States Federal Reserve and the European CentralBank on possible steps to re-inject money into their respective economies, Reuters reported.
Brent crude oil futures in London were up at $105.30 a barrel this morning, recovering from anearlier drop to a near one-week low of $104.06. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil was alsoup to $88.17 per barrel.
Reuters further reported that US crude oil inventories fell by 11.6 million barrels in the weekended 27 July, a far bigger drop than expected, as imports fell nearly 800,000 barrels per day,according to a report on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute.
Oil prices continue to draw support from tensions between the West and Iran over the Islamicrepublic’s nuclear ambitions and the escalating conflict in Syria, the news agency added.
