Matson increases
freight shipping ratesThe $125-per-container hike
will offset rises in operating
expenses
Matson Navigation Co. will increase its Hawaii-bound freight rate by $125 per container, or an average of 4.4 percent, beginning on Jan. 11.
Although the rate increase is the largest in at least 14 years, it is not a true comparison because the company is applying a different price structure.
While Matson's West Coast-Hawaii rate increases through 2002 were across-the-board hikes, the newly instituted flat-rate per-container charge means the magnitude of the increase will vary among different types of shippers.
With rates on cargo from the West Coast ranging from about $1,800 to about $4,000 per container, the increase will range from as low as 3 percent to close to 7 percent.
The eastbound rate, on cargo from Honolulu heading for the mainland, will rise by $60 per container.
Matson also will increase its terminal handling charge on Jan. 11 by $25 per westbound container and $15 eastbound.
James Andrasick, Matson president and chief executive officer, said the rate increase will help offset rises in operating costs.
Warren Chong, president of liquor distributor Southern Wine Spirits of Hawaii, said he had not heard details about the increase and was not sure what the additional cost to the business would be.
"I don't have the details of what the monetary effects would be, although there has been talk about it," he said. "Price increases at any time obviously affect a lot of people. It's never an easy thing."
Andrasick said the shift from an across-the-board percentage rate to a flat additional per-container charge is because costs tend to change for containers regardless of what is being carried in them. Matson's rate schedule calls for different charges for different cargoes. Less expensive fees for things like perishable food will see the greatest percentage of increase under the new system.
Matson's last West Coast-Hawaii rate increase was 2.9 percent in April 2002.
In September the company raised its fuel surcharge to 7.5 percent from 6.5 percent to offset rising fuel costs.
