FedEx Cuts Positions in US, Cuts Rates in China - July 01, 2008

FedEx Corporation does not see Express or Ground or Freight or U.S. or Canada or Europe or China.  FedEx Corporation only sees pools of money - earnings here can offset losses there, or a cut here to pay for an increase there.

Now, FedEx is announcing rate cuts - in the face of higher fuel costs worldwide - in China.

BEIJING, July 1 (Reuters) - Package delivery company FedEx Corp has lowered its rates in the fiercely competitive Chinese market despite higher fuel prices.

FedEx, which started its domestic shipping service in China last June, cut charges for its quickest service, FedEx First Overnight—which guarantees delivery before 10:30 a.m. the next day—by as much as 77 percent.

Its new prices for sending a 2-kg parcel from Beijing to Shanghai via First Overnight scheme is 31 yuan, or about a third of the 90 yuan charged by EMS, a state-owned courier agent.

'By offering the new rates to the market, we aim to provide more customers with access to our reliable services so that they can optimize their supply chains,' a FedEx spokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement.

Ongoing cost containment in the U.S.  And price cuts for the China market.  More of the 'levers' that FedEx management feel they can push and pull at will.