Reinsurance rates at the April 1 renewals continued to rise dueto 2011 loss events, according to a Guy Carpenter briefing releasedtoday.

Guy Carpenter says the April 1 renewals are “continuing thegeneral trends observed at Jan. 1, 2012.”

The briefing notes that April 1 was a “significant renewal date”for the Asia-Pacific region, as it provides the first indication ofhow heavy catastrophe losses that hit the area have affectedrates.

For Japan, Guy Carpenter says capacity was secured for risks,but at increased prices and with tightened terms and conditions inmany lines. Rates were up in all property-catastrophe lines inJapan, while casualty lines “showed a mixed picture,” but with ageneral trend of modest increases.

Not surprisingly, earthquake coverage saw significant priceincreases in Japan, and Guy Carpenter notes that the average priceof Japanese earthquake excess-of-loss capacity has practicallydoubled since the 2010 renewal.

Prices for Japanese windstorm coverage also rose despite aloss-free year for the market.

For Australia and New Zealand, Guy Carpenter notes thatsignificant 2011 losses such as flooding in Australia and and aFebruary earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand occurred prior tothe April 1, 2011-April 1, 2012 period. Still, Guy Carpenter saysreinsurers “signaled a desire to move reinsurance pricing upwardsagain, consistent with their approach to the Jan. 1 renewals. Thiswas particularly true for those April 1 renewals that had missedany significant corrective action on pricing in 2011.”

Loss-impacted programs in Australia and New Zealand sawdouble-digit rate increases, Guy Carpenter says.

In the U.S. property-catastrophe-reinsurance market, GuyCarpenter says quotes were generally in line with Jan. 1 renewals,ranging from down 12 percent to up 11 percent. But the briefingnotes that the number of programs renewing in April is much smallerthan that renewing in January.

Additionally, Guy Carpenter says rate increases were morepronounced for some programs that renewed early at this time lastyear, as they had received quotes from terms before the Japanearthquake and RMS v11 catastrophe model release were factoredin.

The briefing adds that programs seeking capacity beyond thatwhich was expiring received greater pricing scrutiny. “In order toensure sufficient capacity, therefore, some companies put outhigher firm-order pricing than they may have otherwise,” GuyCarpenter explains. “Reinsurers continued to show more willingnessto reduce support for programs significantly if pricing didnot meet expectations.”

Where pricing does meet expectations, though, Guy Carpenter saysthere continues to be sufficient capacity with reinsurers willingto provide substantial support.