The Federal Maritime Commission is interested in exploring a suggestion by agricultural shippers that establishing a container rate index for exports could be beneficial for U.S. shippers, the Journal of Commerce reported.
FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky is scheduled to address the annual conferences of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America April 24 in Hollywood, Fla., and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition June 21 in San Francisco, and the topic of an index for exports is expected to come up.
Container freight indexes are common in the inbound trades. For example, The Journal of Commerce each week publishes the Drewry Container Rate Benchmark for shipments from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, and the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index for shipments from China to the U.S. East and West coasts.
Agricultural exporters in recent months have suggested to the FMC that a similar index for export commodities could prove beneficial, Lidinsky told the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 7. Lidinsky has made support for increased exports an important mission of the FMC.
The difference between the inbound freight indexes and the export index is that the outbound index would be based on information filed with the FMC. “Following requests from several agricultural exporters, our staff is currently exploring the concept of using our data on file to develop a container shipping rate index for a few targeted export commodities such as grains, cotton, hay and frozen meat,” Lidinsky told the committee.
The trade community has mixed views on developing an export index based on confidential service contract information on file at the FMC. Peter Friedmann, AgTC executive director, said carriers that are members of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement already have the information, and they also have antitrust immunity to discuss the data at WTSA meetings.
Shippers do not have antitrust immunity, so having access to aggregated freight rates for various commodities could be beneficial when negotiating contracts with carriers. “It would give shippers better information for making decisions,” Friedmann said.
FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky is scheduled to address the annual conferences of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America April 24 in Hollywood, Fla., and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition June 21 in San Francisco, and the topic of an index for exports is expected to come up.
Container freight indexes are common in the inbound trades. For example, The Journal of Commerce each week publishes the Drewry Container Rate Benchmark for shipments from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, and the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index for shipments from China to the U.S. East and West coasts.
Agricultural exporters in recent months have suggested to the FMC that a similar index for export commodities could prove beneficial, Lidinsky told the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 7. Lidinsky has made support for increased exports an important mission of the FMC.
The difference between the inbound freight indexes and the export index is that the outbound index would be based on information filed with the FMC. “Following requests from several agricultural exporters, our staff is currently exploring the concept of using our data on file to develop a container shipping rate index for a few targeted export commodities such as grains, cotton, hay and frozen meat,” Lidinsky told the committee.
The trade community has mixed views on developing an export index based on confidential service contract information on file at the FMC. Peter Friedmann, AgTC executive director, said carriers that are members of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement already have the information, and they also have antitrust immunity to discuss the data at WTSA meetings.
Shippers do not have antitrust immunity, so having access to aggregated freight rates for various commodities could be beneficial when negotiating contracts with carriers. “It would give shippers better information for making decisions,” Friedmann said.