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Europe's fourth-largest container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, has announced that from February 13 it will lower the bunker adjustment factor (BAF) applicable for all containerised shipments from North East Asia to Australia.

The revised BAF will be USD 150 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU).

North East Asia comprises Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

50 percent reduction since July

On December 28, the Hamburg-headquartered transportation company announced that it had lowered its BAF for all containerised shipments from North East Asia to Australia to USD 175 per TEU (effective from January 24).

The surcharge had been revised on September 25 to USD 200 per TEU (effective from October 24), down from the USD 225-per-TEU surcharge announced on September 3 (effective from October 3).

Prior to this, on August 14, the BAF was lowered to USD 275 per TEU (effective from September 12), having been previously set at USD 300 per TEU on July 27 (effective from August 24).

Thus, the latest USD 25 adjustment represents a reduction of USD 150 per TEU, or 50 percent, in less than six months.