Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, May 17, 1996

Matson asks for rate hike to offset fuel costs

Faced with rising fuel costs, Matson Navigation Co. wants to raise shipping rates 1.1 percent on its West Coast-Hawaii routes.

Matson on Thursday said it filed for a fuel-related increase with the Federal Maritime Commission and the Surface Transportation Board that would take effect June 16.

Matson said its fuel costs have risen more than 18 percent since January.

Competitor Sea-Land Service said it has not made any decision to raise its shipping rates but is exploring its options.


McNeil Wilson gets three-year, HVB contract

The Hawaii Visitors Bureau has awarded its public relations firm a new contract.

The three-year contract with McNeil Wilson Communications is effective July 1, said Jeffrey Nauser, HVB marketing vice president. The contract for the 1996-97 fiscal year will be for $350,000.

The St. Louis firm of Fleishman-Hillard International, in partnership with McNeil Wilson, was awarded a contract in 1994. But last September, the HVB removed Fleishman-Hillard from the contract, leaving McNeil Wilson in charge.


30-year mortgages slip to 8.08 percent

WASHINGTON - Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.08 percent this week, down from 8.24 percent last week, according to a survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

Last week's average was the highest since May 4, 1995, when rates averaged 8.27 percent. After dipping to 6.94 percent in February, rates had risen gradually until recently locking into a range around 8 percent.

One-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.78 percent, down from 5.80 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.59 percent, down from 7.75 percent.


For more local, national and international business news,
see the Hawaii Inc. section in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.



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