Maersk’s service changes impact Itaguaí exporters

In December, Maersk stopped operating on the ASAS SLII service and instead introduced a new service to the Far East, the NEW ASIA I service. The original ASAS SLII service has two calls at Itaguaí (northbound and southbound), however, the NEW ASIA I service does not make a northbound call at the port.

The NEW ASIA I port rotation is as follows:

Busan – Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Itaguaí – Santos – Itapoa – Itajai – Buenos Aires – Montevideo – Itajai – Paranagua – Santos – Singapore – Hong Kong – Busan

The ASAS SLII service port rotation is:

Busan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Shekou – Singapore – Port Kelang – Itaguaí – Santos – Paranaguá – Montevideo – Buenos Aires – Imbitatuba – Itajaí – Itapoa – Santos – Itaguaí – Kelnag – Singapore – Hong Kong – Busan

Although the ASAS SLII service is still operating with CMA-CGM, COSCO, EVERGREEN, HAPAG LLOYD, HYUNDAI, ONE and ZIM, there are strong signs that this service will not continue. Many of these carriers are migrating their operations to the New Ipanema and Sino South America services operated by PIL. Services from Brazil to the Far East currently include New Ipanema and ASAS SLI (which do not call at Itaguaí) and Sino South America (which only has a southbound call at Itaguaí).

According to a Datamar source, shippers utilizing the NEW ASIA I service must now make transshipments from Itaguaí to Santos to export goods or travel by road to the Port of Santos. Fiemg (Minas Gerais Federation of Industries) says the changes are likely to impact heavily on shippers from Minas Gerais in terms of logistics costs for exporters. Fiemg calculated an increase of 13% in freight cost for the mining sector, whereas ferrous-alloy, steel, and food industries should expect to pay at least 55% more in transportation.

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