Commercial Update - Temporary Freight Surcharge

The Coronavirus pandemic is continuing to affect our every day. Consumers globally have changed buying habits, and a diversion of cash from retail, hospitality and leisure activities has transitioned to the investment in larger items, mainly associated to home and home improvement. This, coupled with global port restrictions and the varied international shipping requirements now in place has resulted in a chronic shortage of shipping capacity. 

Shipping lines are being forced to take extreme action, cancelling contract rates in favour of dynamic pricing as rates have escalated. Trade associations have pushed for additional capacity to be made available, however, shipping lines have advised this is a long term cost for a relatively short term issue.

What does this mean?

The cost of shipping rates (Jan 2021) has increased tenfold in the last 3 months. Whilst there is an acceptance the situation will ultimately resolve itself with a possible easing through the period of the Chinese New Year, these rates are currently here and validated by demand.

How does this affect our customers?

In the hope of supporting the supply chain and as a result our customers, Masonite faced with the option of ship or don’t ship have committed to reserving capacity and negotiated the best available shipping rates. However, the escalating costs can no longer be sustainably absorbed, resulting in the introduction of a temporary freight surcharge of £12.34 on each door transaction from 5pm on Monday 8th February. Whilst the exact go-live has not yet been confirmed, the charge will be applied early to mid-Feb and will remain or be adjusted depending on a continuously changing situation with a return to normalised rates at a time-dependent on the market.