Mr. Le Quang Trung, Deputy General Director, Vietnam National Shipping Lines, said that there is a link between foreign shipping lines to set market prices. In addition, these shipping lines also charge surcharges in addition to freight rates for owners of import and export goods of Vietnam

Sharing at a webinar on supply chain disruption, Mr. Le Quang Trung, Deputy General Director, Vietnam National Shipping Lines, the fares, specifically from Asia to Europe, increased to a high level. record over $10,000 for a 40-foot container, 10 times higher than in the same period last year.

Especially in June, the increase is very high. A large shipping line announced that the freight rate to the East Coast of the United States was up to 18,000 USD, an increase of 3000 USD compared to May.

“The sharp increase in ocean freight rates raises the risk of price increases for all types of goods, raising concerns about global inflation,” Trung said.

In addition, Mr. Trung said that due to dominating the market, foreign shipping lines arbitrarily raised prices.

“There is a link between foreign shipping lines to set the market price. Besides, these shipping lines also collect surcharges in addition to freight rates for Vietnamese import and export goods owners,” said Trung.

In the first half of this year, there have been 2 price increases from carriers from Vietnam to Europe and North America and not to mention unusual price increases.

Those price increases, in many cases, can account for up to 60% of the total value of goods in the container, not to mention the sudden increase in other logistics costs.

The increase in freight rates causes the ratio of import-export enterprises to decrease, creating great pressure for enterprises. Profits mainly fall to foreign transport enterprises.

“It can be said that Vietnam’s import and export freight transport share is 100% implemented by foreign shipping lines. With such unstable tariff policies, it is difficult for Vietnamese import-export goods owners to build a plan. plan to sign long-term transport contracts,” Trung said.

According to Mr. Le Van Quang, General Director of Minh Phu, the company had to adjust its profit after tax target of VND 1,090 billion, 22% lower than the previous plan of VND 1,400 billion, partly due to instability. in freight rates and container rental costs.

“The production plan will be achieved, but the sales plan and profit plan will decrease by 20%. If we can solve the container problem, we will achieve or even exceed,” said Mr. Quang at the general meeting of shareholders. annual 2021.

According to Mr. Quang, in order to solve the current difficult situation, Minh Phu even had to return to negotiate with small shipping lines that the company previously refused to cooperate with because of high prices.

We expect freight rates to increase, but we don’t know how much. Minh Phu also did not dare to sign many contracts, only signed each month and did not participate in year-round delivery auctions. The company only engages with loyal customers with high prices of 20-30%.

Rising freight rates also make some industries in Vietnam at risk of losing customers. The pepper industry is an example.

Currently, Vietnamese pepper accounts for 50% of the worldwide market share. However, according to information from the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), recently, the US and EU have switched to buying pepper from Brazil because the quality of pepper is not too different from that of Vietnam.

The most important reason is that the cost of shipping from Brazil to the US is only 1/3 of that from Vietnam and from Brazil to the EU is only 1/10 of that from Vietnam.

According to Mr. Trung, state agencies coordinate with associations to negotiate with shipping lines to have more appropriate pricing policies.

Mr. Trung said that it is necessary to issue appropriate prices, apply a transparent tariff policy, do not apply surcharges, arbitrary exchange rates, and comply with the principles of the Ministry of Finance.

In container operation,  applies the policy of exchanging containers between imported and exported goods. Currently, CGM and CMA shipping lines are implementing this method well.

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