DHL Express today announced price increases for major markets in Europe and Asia Pacific from January 1, 2019, with different rises for lighter and heavier shipments in some countries.
However, the express operator, which adjusts its prices annually, has not stated any global or regional average price rises in contrast to previous years. In 2018, the global average rise was 4.5%.
The 2019 price adjustments, based on factors such as inflation, exchange rates, costs and market dynamics, will vary from country to country, depending on local conditions, and will apply to all customers where contracts allow.
In Europe, DHL Express will introduce an average price increase of 4.9% in Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Sweden while there will be a 3.9% rise in Spain.
In France, there will be a 4.9% average rise for shipments up to 70kgs and 5.9% for heavier shipments over 70kg. There will be a similar approach in Poland, with a 4.4% average rise for lighter goods (TDI shipments below 70kg), 9.1% for TDI heavier shipments and 5.9% for international Day Definite shipments.
In comparison, in January 2018, DHL Express put up European rates by 3.9% on average across EU markets and 4.9% rise in non-EU markets.
In Asia Pacific, the highest average increase (for light shipments) looks likely to be in India where the average shipment price will go up by 6.9% as of January 1, 2019.
There will be an average price rise of 4.9% in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. In Thailand, there will be an average increase of 4.9% for shipments weighing less than 70 kg, and 5% to 10% for shipments weighting more than 70Kg.
In Australia, the average price increase will be 4.9% for shipments weighing less than 300 kg, and 13% for shipments weighing more than 300 kg. In New Zealand the average shipment price increase will be 4.9%.
This year, DHL Express rates for lighter shipments went up by 5.1% on average across Asia Pacific.
Rate adjustments for the Americas in 2019 had not been announced at the time of writing. In the USA, DHL Express traditionally awaits the rate adjustments of UPS and FedEx before making an announcement.
Justifying the rate adjustments, DHL Express said it has been investing significantly in its international network to meet highest expectations and to offer an even better service to customers globally. “Our aim is to deliver continuous improvement in quality to meet our customers’ needs even more.”
In statements targeted at their local market, DHL Express country managers explained: “The annual price adjustment allows us to further strengthen our infrastructure, ensuring best-in-class customer solutions by using innovative technologies and individual delivery processes. Particularly in the last few weeks and months, we focused on investing in hub expansions and new gateways in many markets and thereby boosted our shipment processing capacities per hour and reduced our transit times. We are always working on upgrading our regional and intercontinental air fleets, we are opening new facilities with automated sorting technologies and introduce innovative e-commerce service solutions for our customers worldwide.”
