(Yicai) April 10 -- Due to rising costs brought about by higher fuel prices, Chinese express delivery companies have hiked fees in multiple regions, including Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong provinces.

Logistics supply chain costs have borne a significant increase as fuel prices have been surging due to force majeure since March, a Chinese courier recently said in a notice to customers. Therefore, to maintain its express delivery network, the firm had no choice but to raise pickup prices.

Since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict at the end of February, Chinese refined oil prices have adjusted three times. Prices of gasoline and diesel have surged by a total of CNY2,275 (USD333) per ton and CNY2,185 per ton, respectively.

J&T Express, STO Express, ZTO Express, and other couriers have increased pickup prices in Shandong since April 1. Delivery fees for parcels under 3 kilograms are now 15 Chinese cents (2.2 US cents) pricier per order, while those for parcels above 3 kg are 5 Chinese cents (0.7 US cents) more expensive per kg.

This round of price hikes mainly targets business-end customers, such as merchants on e-commerce platforms, while prices for customer-end individual orders have remained unchanged, an industry insider told Yicai.

Delivery prices will gradually increase nationwide, and on a later stage, they may also affect individual consumers, said Zhao Xiaomin, a logistics and express delivery expert. The industry will focus on the welfare and protection of couriers and reducing price competition this year, and raising prices is one of the key methods, he noted.

In recent years, couriers have been reducing costs and enhancing efficiency also by expanding investment in automated equipment and artificial intelligence.

The number of automated equipment deployed by SF Express in its warehouses jumped 63 percent last year from 2024, according to its latest annual earnings report. Moreover, the firm is promoting the deep integration of AI, robotic process automation, and intelligent algorithms with its underlying systems across the entire warehousing network.

Editor: Futura Costaglione