Investigation into Shipping Freight Rate Announcements in Preparation for China's Lunar New Year 'Export Volume Push'

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries "Focused Investigation on Freight Rate Publication for North America and Europe Routes"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government will conduct a fact-finding investigation to prevent a rise in maritime freight rates caused by export volume dumping ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday from February 11 to 17. It will examine whether shipping companies are adhering to the published freight rates.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 26th that it plans to investigate compliance with the freight rate publication system to prevent unfair increases in maritime freight rates ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The freight rate publication system is a system under Article 28 of the Shipping Act that requires shipping companies to disclose in advance the freight rates they intend to charge so that stakeholders such as cargo owners can be informed. It was introduced to prevent excessive increases in maritime freight rates or unreasonable low-price dumping.

An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "We plan to focus on investigating the compliance with freight rate publication on the Korea-to-North America and Europe routes, where the burden on our companies due to rising maritime freight rates is greatest."

Regular container shipping companies entering and leaving Korean ports must publish freight rates four times a year in March, June, September, and December. If they want to change the published rates, they must republish the revised rates at least 15 days before applying them.

In this investigation, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will check whether shipping companies properly carried out the regular publication in December last year and whether they are charging the published rates. If violations are found, fines will be imposed depending on the severity of the case.

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the market share of the trans-Pacific route increased from about 30% to 35.2% as of December last year. By deploying nine temporary vessels last year to transport emergency export cargo totaling 33,276 TEU, the cargo volume reached 54,292 TEU, a 61.3% increase compared to 33,276 TEU in 2019.

However, freight rate increases and a shortage of shipping space are expected to continue for the time being. In particular, if export volume dumping from China occurs during next month’s Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, cargo volume is expected to increase, leading to freight rate rises not only on the trans-Pacific route but also on routes to Europe and Southeast Asia.

Kim Jun-seok, Director of the Shipping and Logistics Bureau at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "If shipping companies engage in unfair practices to maximize profits from recent maritime freight rate increases, we plan to strictly punish them to establish order in the shipping market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.