COVID Outbreak in Shanghai

The City of Shanghai has been affected by a COVID out break and the city will be closed down by authorities for one week from today 28 March until 5th April 2022..

The cities’ East area will close from today until April 1st and then the western area of the city will close from April 1st until April 5th.

The above closures will seriously affect pick-up and deliveries from other cities to/from Shanghai and pick-ups within the Shanghai area will almost cease as many drivers will be confined to home or will be blocked from entering the area.

Our Shanghai partners are suggesting that shipments can be re-routed to Ningbo Port, please contact your GPSM Customer Service Team contact if you wish to look at this alternative action to avoid delays.

Patricks Terminals– Maritime Union Enterprise Agreement

Union Members have agreed to vote for the most recent proposal by Patrick’s Terminals on their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement across all four (4) Patrick’s Terminals in Australia.

The following is an extract from a notice released by Patricks:

“The new deal provides Patrick Terminals with increased operational flexibility to better meet customers’ needs and service the changing supply chain landscape. The new agreement provides Patrick Terminals with the right to recruit at their discretion without restrictive union quotas.

Michael Jovicic, CEO Patrick Terminals said, “We are pleased to have secured support for our new enterprise agreement across our workforce. This new four-year arrangement provides the flexibility that we sought in regard to recruitment and will allow us to better service our customers in regard to manning, new technology and operational efficiency. We would like to thank our customers for their patience over the past 2 years and now look forward to a future of industrial stability on the Patrick waterfront.”

The new Enterprise Agreement will now be lodged with the Fair Work Commission to ratify”.

Australian Flood Delays

We are starting to see container detention invoices from Shipping Lines issued during the recent flood crisis.

In disputing these costs with lines, they have advised that no consideration will be given for delayed deliveries as a result of the floods in various areas of Australia.

We believe that the lines are just continuing to extract every dollar they can with these unbelievable cost impositions with no consideration for importers and exporters.

We are disputing each and every one received but to date have not been successful in obtaining any reductions, regrettably GPSM will need to pass these costs on to our affected customers.

COVID Outbreak in China

A number of China cities are reported to have fresh outbreaks of COVID virus, with the 17.5 million residents of Shenzhen now locked down by local authorities except for buying food.

All residents in Shenzhen are now restricted from leaving home for at least one (1) week, workers are unable to attend any work places and all public transport has ceased.

Authorities have decreed that all residents would be COVID tested three times in the coming seven days.

For the time being, all the imports and exports business will operate as usual without any impact but we have been advised by some suppliers that the long-haul truck with SHENZHEN number plates will be prohibited to enter into nearby cities which will potentially delay the shipments.

It is expected the shutdown will also severely affect operations at Shenzhen Airport. LCL warehouses in Shenzhen area are also shut down.

We understand all schools have been closed in Shanghai and the Shanghai port is also reportedly shutdown.

It is possible that shipping services will be delayed as a result of the shutdowns, we will advise further details on affected areas as soon as news come to hand.

Trucking Update

Trucking Fuel Update:

As most people will be aware from news coverage over the past couple of weeks, diesel fuel prices are increasing almost on a daily basis.

GPSM recently increased our trucking fuel rates at the time the price for diesel was $ 1.65/litre, that price has now increased to +$ 2.00/litre in the last week mainly as a result of the war in Ukraine and the ban on Russian oil supplies.

As echoed by our interstate and local trucking partners, regrettably we are left with no alternative but to increase the fuel levy to a minimum of 20% effective immediately.

We hope the fuel price will remain steady and warn we may need to adjust the levy further is costs continue to escalate.

The new fuel levies will be adjusted to the GPSM rates page asap.

 

Global Trucking:

Our partners in Poland, Czech Republic, Western Europe and UK have all advised this week that inland trucking costs are due to increase in these countries as overall there is now a shortage of drivers as many drivers have returned to Ukraine and Poland.

Ukrainian drivers make up a large percentage of drivers throughout Europe/UK.

Diesel fuel costs across UK/Europe are also escalating quickly.

 

Empty Container De-Hire:

Just a reminder that GPSM require 48 hours’ notice from clients for collection of empty containers left on site.

We have seen many clients failing to advise when containers are empty that leads to a last day rush to de-hire the equipment before detention commences.

Please be aware that empty container parks do not extend hours and that we require time slots for re-delivery, obtaining same at the last minute is almost impossible.

Do not hesitate to contact our Transport Team if you need any further assistance on notifying us of empty equipment collections.

Seasonal measures for Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) 2022

For the 2021-22 BMSB risk season, BMSB seasonal measures will apply to targeted goods manufactured in or shipped from target risk countries, that have been shipped between 1 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 (inclusive), and to vessels that berth, load, or transship from target risk countries within the same period.

Note: The shipped on board date, as indicated on the Ocean Bill of lading, is the date used to determine when goods have been shipped.

“Gate in” dates and times will not be accepted to determine when goods are shipped.

We continuously review the measures throughout the season and may make necessary adjustments based on detections of BMSB and changes in the risk pathways.

ACCC ON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COMPETITION

 

FREIGHT & TRADE ALLIANCE (FTA) / AUSTRALIAN PEAK SHIPPERS ASSOCIATION (APSA)

 

Who does this notice affect?

Exporters, importers, customs brokers and freight forwarders

FTA / APSA MEET WITH THE ACCC ON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COMPETITION

 

Opportunity for direct member engagement with our competition regulator

 

The spotlight is clearly centred on international shipping line practices by global competition regulators.

 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today (3 March 2022) released their Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2022/23, importantly giving prominence to competition issues in global and domestic supply chains.

 

In parallel, during yesterday’s State of the Union presentation, US President Joe Biden made a specific reference to shipping line activity and inflationary pressures noting; ”about half a dozen or less foreign-owned companies raised prices by as much as 1,000 percent and made record profits.”.

 

The US President made a hard hitting commentary outlining the intent of investigations “I’m a capitalist, but capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. Capitalism without competition is exploitation — it drives up profits.”

 

Putting all of this into context, Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) representatives met earlier today (3 March 2022) with executives from the ACCC to ascertain detail of their collaboration with the Canadian Competition Bureau; the US Department of Justice, the New Zealand Commerce Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority that aim to identify and prevent potentially anticompetitive conduct in the global supply and distribution of goods – the FTA/APSA media release in response to the announcement is available HERE.

 

Importantly, FTA / APSA shared a detailed quarterly report prepared by the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) and MDS Transmodal – refer HERE (FTA/APSA MEMBER LOGIN REQUIRED) demonstrating restricted shipping capacity continues to fall short of global demand.

 

The ACCC stated that they are very much in the preliminary stages of their investigations but took the opportunity to suggest that in addition to ongoing collaboration with FTA/APSA, there will be a need for direct engagement with members across import, export and international freight forwarding sectors.

 

Should you be interested in this level of participation and to make a positive contribution to the review, please contact Tony Vinson (Head of International Freight and Logistics – FTA/APSA) at [email protected]

 

Paul Zalai – Director FTA | Secretariat APSA | Director GSF

 

Copyright © 2022 Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) Pty Ltd, All rights reserved.

 

URGENT LCL UNPACK REQUESTS ON HOLD

Due to the high numbers of COVID infections causing staff shortages at many unpacking depots and delaying the unpack of containers , we have decided to put a hold on offering customers the opportunity to take advantage of the Priority Unpack service that many of these Depots offer.

Priority Unpack’s come with a fee , generally between $100 – $200 and we believe that our customers will not be getting the true value from paying this fee and hoping for a faster unpack service

We will be closely monitoring the situation and will advise as soon as we feel things are back to normal and its viable to take advantage of the priority service

Updated Airport Arrival Charges

Updated Airport Arrival Charges:

From 1st March 2022, the Airline Document Fee will increase by $ 2.00 per shipment and the Airline Transfer Fee will also increase by $ 2.00 minimum and $ 0.02 per kg.

The updated rates will be added to the GPSM web portal as usual.

 

Brisbane Flood Situation:

Our Brisbane Trucking partner have advised that they have closed down operations today as a result of the current Brisbane flood situation.

Any containers and cargo held in their Hemmant and Yatala yards or warehouses are safe, they are keeping a close watch on the situation and will update us if circumstances change.

Many roads are closed in the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast areas and many staff are off work today attending to their families and homes.

Our Transport Team will keep clients affected updated as more news comes to hand.

Updated Local Charges

Port Infrastructure Levy:

Ports across Australia are increasing their Port Infrastructure Levy again, the new rates will be as follows from 1st March, 2022:

Sydney     $155.00 per container

Melbourne     $175.00 per container

Brisbane     $165.00 per container

Adelaide     $65.00 per container

Fremantle     $55.00 per container

Darwin     $75.00 per container

 

LCL Consolidators are also increasing their LCL Infrastructure Levy from 1st March, 2022 to a Minimum $ 30.00 (unchanged) and $ 15.00 per cbm/1000kgs.

These rates have previously remained unchanged since 2016.

 

Terminal Handling Charges:

With the shipping lines increasing THC Charges, our consolidators have also announced an increase from 1st March 2022 of $ 10.00 per cbm/1000kgs.

LCL THC charges have not increased since 2014, the new rates will be added to our rates portal as usual.

 

Trucking Fuel Levies:

With the cost of diesel fuel continually increasing along with the higher costs of AD BLUE, trucking companies across the country are increasing fuel levies.

The GPSM fuel levy will increase from 1st March 2022, by 1% in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and by 3% in Adelaide and Darwin, while Fremantle and Tasmania will increase by 2%, covering all Airfreight, LCL and FCL deliveries.

Fuel surcharges on interstate and intrastate deliveries vary from various transport operators and will be charged at cost when sub-contracted transport companies are used by GPSM.

The new costs will be shown on our web portal.