---

Europe's fourth-largest container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, has announced that from June 18 it will be increasing the bunker adjustment factor (BAF) applicable for all containerised shipments from North East Asia to Australia by 20 percent.

The revised BAF will be USD 150 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), up from the USD 125-per-TEU figure announced on March 30 (effective from April 30).

North East Asia comprises Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It is the second consecutive increase, and follows the 25 percent rise which came into effect at the end of April. It is also the first time since July 18, 2015, that successive fee increases have been implemented.

Significantly, it means that the Hapag-Lloyd BAF is up $50, or 50 percent, since being cut to $100 per TEU on March 2 (effective from April 2).

2015-16 summary

The second USD 25 rise in a row follows a sustained period of decreases since July, which saw the fee fall from USD 325 to USD 100.

On June 18 (effective July 18), Hapag-Lloyd announced a surcharge increase of USD 25, from USD 300 to USD 325. Since then, only surcharge cuts had been implemented... up until last month's increase. Please find a summary below.

Surcharge changes since January 2015

January 14, 2015 (effective February 14) - USD 300 per TEU

February 6, 2015 (effective March 7) - USD 250 per TEU

March 12, 2015 (effective April 11) - USD 275 per TEU

May 28, 2015 (effective June 27) - USD 300 per TEU

June 18, 2015 (effective July 18) - USD 325 per TEU

July 27, 2015 (effective from August 24) - USD 300 per TEU

August 14, 2015 (effective from September 12) - USD 275 per TEU

September 3, 2015 (effective from October 3) - USD 225 per TEU

September 25, 2015 (effective from October 24) - USD 200 per TEU

December 28, 2015 (effective from January 24) - USD 175 per TEU

January 13, 2016 (effective from February 13) - USD 150 per TEU

February 4, 2016 (effective from March 5) - USD 125 per TEU

March 2, 2016 (effective from April 2) - USD 100 per TEU

March 30, 2016 (effective from April 30) - USD 125 per TEU

May 17, 2016 (effective from June 18) - USD 150 per TEU