The European association for forwarding, transport, logistics and Customs services, CLECAT, has joined an industry initiative that promotes the voluntary use of a bunker adjustment factor (BAF) price indexing method.
The initiative was started in 2019 by maritime consultancy Drewry and European Shippers’ Council (ESC) to improve transparency in the shipping industry. Drewry shipper customers and ESC shipper members have adopted the BAF pricing method since its introduction.
Nicolette van der Jagt, director general at CLECAT, explained: “This indexing mechanism will help improve transparency and fairness in how fuel costs are calculated which will benefit all stakeholders in the supply chain. We hope that this will facilitate discussions with carriers and a better understanding of BAF indexing methods.”
Jordi Espín, policy manager at ESC added that shippers and freight forwarders working together on this initiative “brings the level playing field to a new framework of cooperation where visibility and collaboration will expand throughout the whole maritime supply chain”.
The three industry groups also plan to work on other areas of cooperation such as contract practices.
Last week, HLPFI reported that Drewry and CLECAT had entered into a collaborative agreement to promote Drewry’s forwarder benchmarking club.
