Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments rose this month in USA, Europe and Asiabut lower levels could follow in the short-term due to the current fall in oil prices, CEP-Research
analysis shows.In April, surcharges dropped in USA and Asia after a rise in March but mostly remained at thesame level in Europe.
In May, the European surcharges for all the four integrators slightly increased. UPS and FedExsurcharges both rose to 13.5% in May from 13% in April while DHL increased to 13% for the period 2May-5 June from 12.5% last month. The TNT Express European surcharge showed a slight increase inMay to 16.5% from 16% in April. The separate surcharge for UK and Ireland rose from 8% in April to9.5% in UK and 8.5% in Ireland this month.
In the USA, FedEx Express, UPS and DHL Express have all increased their May surcharges fordomestic and international air express shipments to 8.5 % from 7% last month.
In Asia, surcharges for all the four integrators have risen in May compared to last month. TheUPS surcharge rose from 15.5% in April to 16.5% in May while DHL went up to 17% this month from 16%in April. The TNT surcharge rose from 13% in April to 14% this month. FedEx, whose surcharges varyby country in Asia, also increased its export and import fuel surcharges in both Singapore and inHong Kong from 10.5% in April to 11.5% in May.
The air express fuel surcharges for May reflect the oil price level two months ago. The fourleading express carriers calculate their surcharges based on indexes 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.
Compared to early April, when prices topped $85 a barrel, US oil prices fell below $70 a barreltoday hitting a three-month low on concerns that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis may derail theglobal economic recovery and reduce fuel consumption, international media reported. Today, crudeoil fell to $69.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange which is the lowest price sinceFeb. 5. The Brent crude oil price in London also fell to $76.98 a barrel. US oil prices havedropped about 18.5% so far in May, which is the biggest monthly drop since November 2008.
This price trend indicates that fuel surcharges will drop back in July due to the two-month gapbetween oil prices and fuel surcharges.
