IMPORTERS BEWARE

This time of year (October – January) is traditionally a terrible time for import shipping and 2007 is not going to be any different. Just recently the Sinotrans Shanghai departed Singapore with a large number of containers left behind. The reason for this is that the volume of cargo coming from the Far East to Australia is staggering and quite frankly there is not enough room on ships to carry the cargo (on this occasion the ship was directed to leave the port by the Port of Singapore due to the weight stability of the vessel). Importers would be aware of increases in rates (GRI – General Rate Increases) and Peak Season Surcharges (PSS) being applied to the rates out of Asia. Just recently we received the last quarter rates for 2007 and in some cases import container rates ex some ports in China have increased by US$450.00 per container.
If you are importing containers from Asia to depart anytime from September to January, please be aware that delays may occur. Should you have shipments that are imperative to production schedule, please ensure you make Willard Estate Logistics aware so that we can put in special requests for space allocation for your containers (please note that this is not guaranteed but will help to have your containers loaded). Please also check the validity date on your quotations and if it has run out, or is about to run out, request updated rates prior to placing orders – it can be very disheartening (not to mention expensive) to assume that rates quoted in July are still applicable for November).