Vietnamese businesses are “irritated” when freight rates set a new peak

Given that shipping lines continue to “make excuses” for a lack of empty containers to increase freight rates, many businesses operating in the logistics and export sectors in Vietnam said they would send written petitions to the authorities to protest. for this issue.

Freight rates peaked, businesses were hesitant to sign new orders

After a few months of “standing still” at the price earlier this year of about $10,000 per 40-foot container to the EU, recently the freight rate on this maritime route has continued to increase by $1,000 per 40-foot container.

Not only for goods going to the EU, goods going to Asia routes, specifically Korea are also very high. Mr. Pham Thai Binh – General Director of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company – said that for every ton of rice transported from Vietnam to Korea, enterprises are paying about 40 USD/ton more – because of freight rates. Transition is at its highest level ever. The excessively high freight rates are causing many businesses to be “overloaded” because in addition to the cost of freight, businesses also have to pay other costs such as: Container storage fees at ports, medical equipment to Prevention of Covid-19…. “This situation persists, causing many businesses to be more “conservative” in signing new orders, and they only choose orders with high profit margins instead of signing as widely as before” – Mr. Nguyen Chanh Phuong – Vice President of Fine Arts and Woodworking Association of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA) said. Along with sea freight, air freight also recorded an increase from 3 USD/kg to 6 USD/kg. Ms. Ngo Tuong Vi – Deputy Director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Co., Ltd. said that normally, the freight charge for air freight is only about 3 USD/kg, but now it has increased to about 6.3 USD/kg, this freight rate double the order value. According to Ms. Thu, although the import partner is the one who bears the shipping costs, when the price is high, it also makes them hesitant to place new orders.

Will recommend to the authorities

According to the assessment of businesses operating in the logistics field, there are not many grounds to increase freight rates to the current sky-high. Specifically, Mr. Le Duy Hiep – Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Association pointed out: Normally, logistics costs in general only account for very little value of goods in the container. For example, for electronic products, logistics costs only account for 6-7%, the highest is for agricultural products at 15-20%. Particularly, the cost of transportation from the port to the place of import only accounts for 5-10% of the value of the shipment. However, at the present time, the freight charge at the port of entry is equal to or higher than the order value. More importantly, before that, the freight rate has increased to 10,000 USD (depending on the shipping route) and businesses have gradually adapted to this price, but recently shipping lines have continued to “make excuses” for transportation. increase. Frustrated with the current bluffing rate increase, Mr. Le Duy Hiep said he would soon send a written objection to shipping lines so that the issue of bluffing rate increase would continue. In addition, the Vietnam Logistics Association will also send a written request to the Government to take specific actions to prevent this situation.-