Fuel surcharges for international air express shipments remained either unchanged or went up in November, with one exception, and will mostly remain at the same level next month, CEP-Research analysis has shown.
In Europe, UPS, DHL and TNT kept their November surcharges at the same level as in October with 10.25%, 9.5% and 13.25% respectively. FedEx was the only integrator to raise its European surcharge from 9% in October to 9.5% this month. Next month, all the four integrators will keep their surcharges at the November level.
In the USA, the FedEx surcharge went up from a very low 1% in October to 2.75% in November and will remain at this level in December as well. The UPS surcharge also rose from 3% in October to 4.75% in November and will keep this level next month. The TNT surcharge in the USA went up from 4% in October to 6% in November and December. DHL Express left its surcharge at 0% for the tenth month in a row and will not change it in December either.
In Asia Pacific, FedEx, UPS and DHL kept their November surcharges at the October level with 7.5%, 7.75% and 9.5% respectively. TNT’s Asian surcharge was the only one to go down in November to 13% from 13.25% in October. However, the surcharge will go up again to 13.25% in December.
Global oil prices have showed a rather downward trend over the last month. WTI crude traded at $43.04 yesterday at the end of the day, down from nearly $47 in mid-October. Brent crude traded at $46.17% at the end of yesterday also showing a downward tendency over the last month, down from over $49 in mid-October. These figures are extremely low compared to July 2014 when Brent crude traded at $115 and WTI crude above $103.
Today, crude oil futures fell further as disappointing data from Chinese industrial companies showed a profit drop of 4.6% in October from a year earlier, the country's statistics bureau revealed. In addition, the strong US dollar which stood close to nine-month highs versus a basket of other currencies has put oil prices under pressure as it makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Another concern factor remains the global oversupply in crude. There is little hope that a meeting of ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), set for Dec. 4 in Vienna, will change much as the group seems determined to keep pumping oil.
The air express fuel surcharges for November and December reflect the respective oil price levels two months ago. The four integrators calculate their surcharges based on indices showing the previous month’s oil price level and announce them in advance for the following month. This results in a two-month time lag between the fuel price and surcharge change.
