The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) recently announced increasing the freight on cargo container contracts to be signed till May 2010 to the levels in 2008. The new freight will be set at US$800 per 40-foot-equivalent (FEU) containers to be shipped from Asia to western American ports, and US$1,000 per FEU for containers shipped from Asia to eastern American ports. … Since the beginning of this year, most shippers worldwide have been posting operating losses due to the global recession. Once the contracts with raised freight will have been settled, the shippers will stand a better chance to break even in the second half of 2010.
