The Shanghai Shipping Exchange has insisted that it merely facilitated a rise in minimum freight rates between Shanghai and Europe and had no part in setting the actual rates.
Sources said the exchange president, Captain Xu Lirong, recently had told a visiting delegation from the Hong Kong Shippers Council that rates had been increased by shipping lines and shippers themselves.
Effective from May 1, freight rates were increased by about US$150 - to US$900 per teu (20 ft equivalent unit) and US$1,800 per feu (40 ft equivalent unit).
The sources said the rates were increased after more than 20 shipping lines, which handle about 80 per cent of the container load between Shanghai and Europe, had complained of losing money.
The rate increase was designed to meet rising operating costs, they said.
Cosco Container Lines, which is not a member of any rate-making body, had said earlier that it would raise its freight rates between Shanghai and Europe by US$150 per teu from July 1.