The Federal Statistical Office announces the "diesel prices when submitting to large consumers" every month. For the first time since June 2014, the diesel price has increased again. What a pleasure for many drivers gives one or the other logistics service provider headache.
For many freight forwarders and shippers, this index serves as the basis for calculating the diesel surcharge. Since June last year, this has fallen continuously from the then high of EUR 113.2 per 100 liters to EUR 89.80 per 100 liters in January. Various influencing factors played a role here. Last but not least, the strong dollar and the oversupply of cheap oil from Saudi Arabia contributed to the price reduction. For some freight forwarders and logistics service providers, this recently even meant a discount on the basic freight agreed with customers. Although the index is used for long-term planning, not all diesel price agreements cover the actual additional costs. And by far not all shippers have a diesel surcharge at all. Price wars are inevitable here, because some shipping companies are aggressively entering the market with cheaper purchasing prices in order to generate new customers. However, how to make the newly acquired client aware of a price increase when diesel prices rise is often not taken into account. This in turn makes working in this industry quite exciting, because once satisfied customers often return to their well-known freight forwarders after such a price war, as OCS employees report.
The current rise in oil prices also has global reasons, such as the war that has now begun in Yemen and the recently very weak dollar. OPEC representatives last weekend that the oil price would rise back to over US$100 in the short term. How many influencing factors really determine the oil price is difficult, even within OPEC, due to different interests. A forecast is therefore not easy and so logistics service providers are happy about every customer with whom an agreement on the diesel price is concluded.
Regardless of the price of oil or diesel, we hope that the global crises will calm down again. Who is interested in people having their existence threatened because of geostrategic interests?
