Geneva – Switzerland: Mediterranean Shipping Co is to impose a US$1,500 per reefer box increase from the beginning of the year for cargo moving from Europe to Asia. A similar charge will cover reefer cargo shipped from Europe to the Middle East.
The move follows Maersk Line’s announcement a few months ago that it planned to raise reefer rates from 1 January. Other major container lines are raising their reefer rates: APL announced a $1,500 global increase from 7 January and members of the westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement pushing up prices on the US-Asia route from yesterday.
MSC’s reefer rate hikes, announced just before Christmas, come after Maersk took the lead in September, when CEO Søren Skou announced a $1,500 increase in base rates for 40ft reefer containers. Skou said then that: “During the last seven years, our reefer rates have not even covered the rate of inflation.”
