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Shipping firm Horizon Lines has announced that it is lowering its bunker fuel surcharge for shipments between the US mainland and Guam/Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Horizon will be matching its main rival Matson Navigation Co. and decreasing its fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points to 27 percent, effective Sunday, July 18th.

In a statement, Horizon said it will "continue to closely monitor fuel costs and will adjust the fuel surcharge as trends warrant."

Matson announced on Friday that it would be reducing its fuel charge from 29 percent to 27 percent for shipments to Guam/Micronesia, also from July 18th.

Matson said it would also cut its Hawaii service fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points, from 27.5 percent to 25.5 percent.

Commenting on the decrease on Friday, Dave Hoppes, senior vice president, ocean services at Matson said: "Matson is very pleased to make this downward adjustment to its fuel surcharge. Matson has made a practice of giving 30 days notice of rate adjustments, however we are once again passing on this decrease to our customers as soon as possible so that they can quickly realize the benefits of this reduction during this difficult economic environment. For most customers, this decrease represents a reduction in shipping costs ranging from $55 to $85 per container. We will continue to monitor fuel costs and adjust the surcharge accordingly."

The company's last adjustment to its fuel surcharge was a 3.5 percentage point increase in February 2010.