French Shipping Firm Slams $400 Surcharge On Nigeria-bound Cargoes, Others

French Shipping Company, CMA CGM has announced a new Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of US$400 per container effective 5th August on cargo originating from the United States and Canada destined for Nigeria.

Other countries affected are, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, Angola, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Congo, DRC, Namibia and Equatorial Guinea.

LEADERSHIP reports that the PSS are fee associated with the increased costs of transport in a specific period. The peak surcharge usually happens when there is a high transport demand and every carrier imposes different charges as it suit them.

The new surcharge is coming barely two months after the shipping line imposed the sum of $900 per TEU (twenty equivalent unit) of containers as PSS on cargoes coming through it from China to Nigeria.

However, in this new announcement, the shipping company announced the implementation of a separate surcharge of €400 per container on cargo originating from North Europe (including the Baltic and Scandinavia), GB£300 per container from the United Kingdom and US$400 per container from West Mediterranean, East Mediterranean, Adriatic, Morocco, North Africa, and the Black Sea, and destined for Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, Angola, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Congo, DRC, Namibia, and Equatorial Guinea.

This surcharge, which comes into effect on 1s August 2024 (loading date), is applicable to dry and reefer cargo.

The Marseille-based container carrier also applied a surcharge of US$200 per 20ft container on shipments from all Middle East Gulf & Pakistan ports to South Africa effective 20th July.

The container carrier said the surcharge will be applied until further notice.