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Shipping carriers have canceled temporary surcharges imposed due to the strike as a result of the strike ended a brief dock strike last week. This further intensifies the downward pressure on freight prices, especially in the past few weeks. A freight agent told a business magazine that the strike surcharge has been abolished.

Shortly after the strike was announced on October 3, operators began phasing out the surcharges. In fact, already under pressure from all sides before the strike ended, Transport Minister Pete Butijig called on shipping companies to cancel any extra charges imposed due to the disruption, stressing that “no one should take advantage of the disruption to profit”.

During the strike, shuttle companies charged extra fees for containers affected by the International Dockworkers Association (ILA) strike, some of which were expensive. For example, Ocean Network Express (ONE) once charged a congestion surcharge of up to $2,000 per 40-foot standard container (FEU). However, with the end of the strike, shipping companies such as ONE, CMA CGM and OOCL have all cancelled these surcharges. “Due to better than expected port operating conditions, strike-related surcharges were cancelled relatively quickly,” a carrier insider said.

Another freight agent added: “Contract customers have been notified of the cancellation of the surcharge, and we have mostly sent relevant emails last weekend and this Monday.”

According to data from Platts in Standard & Poor's Global Business Journal, the immediate shipping price from Asia to the U.S. East Coast this week is $4,300 per FEU, down sharply from $7,350 on Sept. 6, and shipments from Asia to the U.S. West Coast are estimated at $4,200 per FEU, which is the east of what the PFS observes The period with the smallest freight gap on the West Coast. The report also said that the shipping rates for both routes were completely flat at the end of October.

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