Principally, the SCA’s move has been driven by the opening of the Panama Canal Authority’s new set of locks. These allow ships of up to 14,000 TEU to transit the artery, up from 5,200 TEU ships previously. It means a considerable reduction in per slot costs for Suez Canal users, and this makes a huge difference to carriers trading between the Far East and USEC.

The SCA’s plan involves slashing transit charges for vessels moving in  he backhaul direction from the US to Asia. Reductions of up to 65% are available on carriers’ toll fees from a full range of ports in the US to destinations in South
and South East Asia.

A tiered pricing regime has been put in place by the SCA. It comprises: ?

• A 45% cut in tolls for containerships departing from the port of Hampton Roads (Norfolk) and ports north of this to Port Klang and ports further east of this.
• A 65% reduction in tolls for vessels departing from ports south of Norfolk (notably Charleston and Savannah) to Port Klang and facilities east of this. ?
• A 55% cut for ships departing from ports south of Norfolk and sailing to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and east as far as Port Klang. 

A customer circular issued by the SCA referred to its revised toll fees as reflecting “new changes in the global shipping market and world economy”. It said the fees were fully “in line with its flexible marketing policies and the dialogues held with the shipping lines”. The SCA’s revised pricing policy will expire on 3 September, but WorldCargo News understands it will be thoroughly reviewed in the run up to this date and changes could take place after this date

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the June 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 12. To access this issue download the PDF here.