Af ter an average increase of 39% in demurrage and detention (D&D) charges for standard containers last year, 2022 has brought some relief.This comes as global supply chains started to recover from Covid lockdowns, resulting in a dramatic decline in charges. They have, however, not returned to pre-pandemic levels and are still some 12% higher than in 2019.This is according to Container xChange’s latest Demurrage & Detention Benchmark report which found that 2022 has had to deal with its own share of major disruptions in the global supply chain – such as the Russia-Ukraine War, the US labour crisis, and fresh Covid-19 lockdowns in China.D&D has been a bone of contention since long before the Covid pandemic. In 2019 the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (Fiata) called for a more transparent, equitable and business-orientated process with regard to the determination and levy of these charges. While Covid brought a dramatic increase in charges it also brought the issue to the fore, with questions being raised about whether it was reasonable to charge shippers these exorbitant rates.According to Drewry, there is still no common ground on the issue. Some feel that regulations are long overdue. Shipping lines on the other hand maintain it is the only way to address the challenges in container delays and encourage users to return empties as quickly as possible or to stick to the agreed free days.Container xChange found location to be a major factor in demurrage and detention charges. “As some ports are more expensive than others as a consequence of labour costs and the like, these charges can dramatically escalate over a short period of time depending on where a container is shipped to,” reads the report.New York, Long Beach and Los Angeles were found to be the ports with the highest D&D charges after two weeks, while the shipping line Cosco had the lowest D&D charges of all the shipping lines across ports and Yangming had the highest. The ports of Busan, Yichang, Rugao and Zhenjiang were found to have the lowest D&D charges.The average D&D charge per standard container across all 60 ports covered in the report after two weeks was $664. While this value decreased from 2021, it was still 12% higher than in pre-pandemic times.The report also found that while D&D charges had reduced globally on average, they continued to increase at the ports of Jebel Ali, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin.
