JOC Staff | Jan 16, 2013 10:54AM EST
A.P. Moller-Maersk, owner of ocean carrier Maersk Line, said the container shipping industry needs to hike rates by $300 to $500 per box on the Asia-Europe trade lane to yield profit, Bloomberg reports.
“Just like everyone else on Asia-Europe, we don’t make money at the current rates,” Lars Mikael Jensen, head of Maersk Line’s Asia-Europe network, said.
Container lines are hoping for higher rates despite increased capacity.
Maersk Line recently announced a peak-season surcharge of $350 per 20-foot-equivalent unit, which went into effect on Jan. 10, for Asia-Europe trade.
In addition, the carrier has announced the conversion of its existing $300 per TEU peak-season surcharge for dry cargoes in the Far East-Mediterranean trade into a base freight rate increase.
