COSCO to introduce Emergency Bunker Adjustment

COSCO Container Lines (COSCO) have announced the introduction of an Emergency Bunker Adjustment (EBA) for all shipments from the Far East to both South Africa, and South America East Coast, Ship & Bunker reports.

Effective November 15, 2012 until further notice, the EBA for Far East to South Africa will be $600 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and $1200 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), while Far East to South America trade sees the EBA at $1900 per TEU and $3800 per FEU.

COSCO did not elaborate on the need for the charge.

Bunker prices have somewhat of a roller coaster over the last 6 months, with Ship & Bunker data for key price indicator port Singapore showing prices dip to $563.50 per metric tonne (pmt) through June 22, 2012 before rising to $691.50 pmt on September 14, 2012, then falling to today's price of $591.00 pmt.

Despite the drops in prices, the 6 month trend still remains positive.