Shipping cars to Australia & New Zealand is about to get more expensive

Ocean carriers and port terminals are once again targeting routes to Australia and New Zealand for rate increases. Origin terminals are demanding larger handling charges, while ocean carriers are warning of a $600 GRI. Car shipping to Australia is about to get more expensive for some.

Terminal Charges

Terminals on the US West coast have already enacted a $150 increase on container shipping to Australia & New Zealand. The terminal handling charge will affect shipping cars from the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma. Hapag-Lloyd, While terminals target US Lines and Pacific International Lines for the increases, the ocean carriers are passing on the charges to those shipping through them. Overseas car shippers using direct service from the West coast are having their rates increased by $150.

Read More About Ground Transportation Prices Are Rising For International Car Shippers

Cheaper, Non-Direct Service to ANZ

As direct shipping gets more expensive, we recommend to all overseas car shippers to switch to Non-Direct service to Australia. While shipping will take around 10 days longer, it will save car shippers, on average, $600 per container. Current destinations offered for non-direct service are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Proposed GRI

Another future increase is already being discussed by ocean carriers. A planned $600 GRI is set to go into effect on March 1st, 2015. We speculate that this increase is due to the current port congestion and the detrimental effect it is having on ocean carriers. As ships are stuck at ports for longer periods of time, carriers need a large GRI to make up for lost revenue.

Read More About West Coast Ports Headed For Gridlock 

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to our subscribers.