Berlin. On Wednesday at the 45th Symposium for Purchasing and Logistics in Berlin, it was reported that conveyors believe that cargo rates will rise over the next two years. This is the result of a survey which was made by the Federal Association for Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME), in cooperation with Paul Wittenbrink, a professor at the Binary College of Baden-Wurttemberg in Loerrach.

In total, 165 enterprises were questioned in September and October 2010 – two thirds of these were carriers from the industry and trade sectors. According to the type of transportation, the price fluctuation expectations vary. Thus 41.4 % of the companies questioned expect air cargo prices to "rise steeply", and 46.9 % expect cargo rates to "rise". This is the highest survey value amongst all freight transporters.
In comparison: With regard to sea container traffic, 33 % see a trend towards significant price increases and 22 % report a similar opinion with regard to lorry transport. Another 57.0 % expect street goods transportation costs to rise, and 42.0 % have this opinion with regard to sea cargo.

The companies were also surveyed on the subject of cargo compartment shortages. This problem is felt most significantly in the sea cargo sector. In total, a little more than 50% of respondents are confronted with capacity shortfalls. Road freight transport is affected in a similar way. At least 15.2% of these respondents said that they were being significantly affected by cargo compartment shortages. 7.9% reckon that they expect the situation to deteriorate further by the end of this year. 33.8% reported that they have to deal with cargo compartment shortages from time to time.
56.2% said that these shortages had now become part of the day-to-day running of their businesses. As far as air cargo is concerned, 42.4% have dealt with shortfalls at some point. However, the situation is less drastic with regard to the other two transportation methods, where 12.8% of inland shipping, and 23% of road freight transporters reported dealings with capacity shortfalls. (cd)


_{-Source: www.verkehrsrundschau.de-}