Three Rate Rises in a Month on Africa Trades: Destination, Box Type and Cargo Weight Priced Separately
On 27 October CMA CGM issued another round of notices: for China-origin cargo loaded from 1 November, the peak season surcharge to central West Africa rises to USD 700 per TEU, to southern West Africa to USD 900, and to Senegal to USD 400. That is the third increase from the same carrier in a single month. The 30 September notice set the 15 October level at USD 200 for the central range, USD 400 for the south and USD 400 for the north. The 5 October notice lifted the 22 October level to USD 350, USD 550 and USD 550, with Conakry held at USD 200.
Put the three notices side by side and the pricing logic on Africa trades has clearly changed. It used to be one number per trade lane. Now the same slot is priced along three separate axes.
The first axis is the destination country. The USD 700 central West Africa figure applies to Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Equatorial Guinea and Togo. Ghana is explicitly carved out and stays at the previous level. Senegal is quoted separately at USD 400, and the rest of the northern range is unchanged. Same vessel, same load port, same week of loading. A border line between destinations can be worth several hundred dollars per box.
The second axis is container type. Maersk's 29 September notice set South Africa and Mauritius at USD 250 per 20ft and USD 500 per 40ft. Its 26 October notice moves those to USD 1,000 and USD 2,000 from 9 November, with Vietnam from 10 November. That is a fourfold increase in under a month. Over the same period, China and Hong Kong to Kenya stands at USD 1,000 per 20ft and USD 2,000 per 40ft or 45ft; to Dar es Salaam at USD 1,200 and USD 2,000; and China plus Hong Kong and Taiwan to West Africa at USD 800 and USD 1,600. Hapag-Lloyd applies a flat USD 800 per TEU to all container types for Mombasa and Dar es Salaam from 1 November, and USD 500 per TEU to Durban and Cape Town from 3 November.
The third axis is cargo weight. CMA CGM has added a USD 300 per container overweight surcharge on certain 20ft dry heavy containers from China to East Africa. The old habit of putting dense cargo into small boxes is now priced separately, and the arithmetic that made heavy cargo in a 20ft work needs to be redone.
Durban shows the pace most clearly. The standard Far East to Durban surcharge is USD 750 per TEU from 22 October, but China-origin cargo runs on a separate window: South China exports loading between 22 and 31 October pay USD 1,050 per TEU, while North and central China pay USD 1,150 for loadings from 28 to 31 October. The initial level published on 10 September was USD 100 per TEU. Within two months it has become 10.5 to 11.5 times that.
While surcharges climb, destination costs are climbing too. At Beira in Mozambique, average vessel waiting time is 15 to 16 days and can reach 30 in the worst cases, with congestion expected to persist into the end of 2026; some forwarders have raised congestion fees from USD 300 to USD 800 per container. At Durban, average time in port in week 43 was close to eight days, arrival delays around six days, delays at Pier 1 of six to eleven days and at the DGT terminal of ten to sixteen days, with some vessels at 25 days. Lagos anchorage waits commonly run 14 to 21 days. Tema averages about 5.87 days but runs at 100 per cent reefer plug utilisation with truck turn-in queues close to seven days. Conakry averages 12.2 days, allocates berths first come first served, and admits one vessel per carrier.
Capacity is improving at the margin. A new direct service to Luanda, operated jointly by CMA CGM's ASAFGR, COSCO's WAX4 and Maersk's FEW6, sails on Thursdays with a transit of about 38 days and a first departure on 3 November. Pointe-Noire has two tiers: MSC's IROKO on Wednesdays at about 30 days, and CMA CGM's WAX2 with Maersk's FEW3 on Wednesdays at about 43 days. Direct calls remove uncertainty from the transshipment leg, but they do not remove destination efficiency risk. Pointe-Noire is running at roughly 95 per cent yard utilisation, with fixed windows and first-come-first-served berthing suspended.
For shippers, the most useful response is to rebuild the quotation template. Split surcharges into three columns: destination country, container type and cargo weight. State separately whether the PSS is already inside the quoted rate and whether it applies by loading date or departure date. Work loading dates backwards from the effective dates: 1 November for CMA CGM's East, South and West Africa lanes and Hapag-Lloyd's East Africa; 3 November for Hapag-Lloyd's South Africa; 9 November for Maersk's East Africa, South Africa and Mauritius. Whatever can be loaded before those dates should be pulled forward. For heavy cargo, run the weight calculation first: the extra USD 300 on a 20ft dry heavy box sometimes makes two smaller boxes the cheaper option. Assume schedules to Beira and Durban will be adjusted again and budget for one rebooking. If Maputo or Nacala is being considered as an alternative, confirm at the same time whether those ports also levy congestion surcharges and whether equipment is available.
Over the longer run, surcharges on Africa trades are no longer a peak season instrument. They are a routine pricing lever. Writing a surcharge cap or a notice period into annual contracts saves more trouble than negotiating box by box during the peak.
