Ctg port raises store rent to keep container delivery normal in Ramadan 

Businesses will have to count fourfold store rent from the 21st day of unloading imported goods from a ship, as the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) has planned to keep the container delivery activity at the country's main seaport smooth.

Currently, importers pay $24 per day for a 20-feet container 20 days after the unloading from a ship. That means, according to the new rules coming into force from 15 March, importers will have to count $96 for each day of delay in taking delivery from the port. And for a 40-foot container, the fine will double.

The CPA says usually an additional amount of goods are imported centring Ramadan and container delivery gets slower at this time, creating congestions at the port. To avert any such situation this year, the authorities have taken this decision.

Recently, CPA has issued a notice to importers, clearing and forwarding agents, shipping agents association, Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various business bodies and port stakeholders in this regard.

According to sources at the port, importers can keep containers in the port yard for four days following unloading from ships without a rent. After that, for a 20-foot container, importers have to pay $6 per day for the first week. The daily fine rises to $12 for the following week and it shoots up to $24 from the 21st day.

In the case of a 40-foot container, the charge doubles at every stage.

According to people concerned, businesses import consumer goods centring Ramadan. Most of them want to use the port yard as a warehouse as they do not have their own private warehouses.

Importers receive delivery of their products conveniently when prices go up. In such cases, they make up the store rent fines by selling their goods at higher prices.

Every year, due to this tendency, containers pile up in the port yard during the Ramadan season. In addition to the artificial crisis of goods in the market, it hampers the normal operation of the port.

Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told The Business Standard, "We have received the notice from the port authorities. I do not understand why importers do not take delivery of goods within 21 days. I hope importers will take fast container delivery to keep the port operational."

The Chattogram port can hold 49,018 TEU (Twenty feet equivalent unit) containers. To keep the delivery normal, 15% of the capacity has to be left free. As such, when 41,665 TEU containers are kept in the port yard, it is considered normal. There were 32,708 TEU containers at the Chattogram port at 8 am on 11 March.

Usually, 4,000 to 4,500 containers are delivered from the country's largest seaport every day. In 24 hours till 8 am on 11 March, 3,510 containers were delivered while 3,731 was delivered on the previous day.

Md Omar Farooq, secretary at the Chattogram Port Authority, told TBS they have decided to collect the fourfold store rent to keep the delivery activities normal. However, the decision will be reconsidered later if there is a significant improvement in the delivery activities.