Courier companies forced to raise prices soon

The Association of Indonesian Courier Companies (Asperindo) has called for an increase in the tariff of express delivery services in the country following the increases in operating costs.

The secretary general of the West Java chapter of the association, Dani Hernawan, said recently that the increase of fuel in January and another rise last week had greatly affected courier companies' operations.

"However, up till now, the prices for express delivery services have not yet increased. We are still in a wait and see position," he was quoted as saying by Cargo Times bimonthly bulletin.

Dani said that it was a matter of time for the local couriers to raise prices because the impact of the increase in the operation costs could no longer be tolerated.

According to him, local courier companies have tried hard not to raise prices, even after a significant increase in oil prices in January, since courier businesses in the province were still struggling due to the ongoing economic crisis.

Producers of textile and textile-related products, the main customers of about 70 courier companies in West Java are also in a difficult position. "Many of them are almost collapsing," he added.

The courier companies should therefore find a breakthrough to solve the situation such as trying to manage retail courier business instead of relying on textile delivery orders, he said. He predicted that textile companies would still face difficulty to recover, given the growing competition from overseas producers from China, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Dani said that at present, private express companies in West Java only controlled about 30 percent of the courier service market in the province.

He said that state-owned postal company PT Pos Indonesia which had massive networks in almost all parts of the country controlled 70 percent of the courier market in the province. (The Jakarta Post)