Govt may waive rent for delayed delivery of imported goods

The government may consider waiving the demurrage charges for additional stays of imported goods in storages for the businesses who failed to take timely delivery of their cargoes from Chattogram port due to countrywide unrest in the last few days.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury gave the assurance today.

The government waived Tk 500 crore of storage rents when businesses failed to take delivery of imported goods during Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, he said.

The government would consider this time also if the importers submit required documents to be eligible to get the waiver, Chowdhury said.

"Nothing to be worried in this regard."

He made the comments at a ceremony organised by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) for distribution of food items among the jetty workers and poor people at a port jetty.

Cargo and container delivery from the port yards gradually came to a halt since July 17 because of the violence centring the quota reform movement, which was followed by internet blackout and curfew imposed by the government.

The lack of assessment facilities because of the absence of internet and the countrywide curfew created a container congestion at the port.

On July 22, the Chattogram port was burdened with 42,150 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, occupying over 79 percent of the port's storage capacity of 53,118 TEUs.

A port's smooth operation gets hampered if containers occupy over 60 percent of its storage capacity, port officials said.

In the last five to six days, businesses failed to take delivery of their imported cargoes from the port yards, for which they are bound to pay additional storage rents to the CPA.

Usually, there is no storage rent in the first four days.

For a 20-foot loaded container, the port charges $6 per day in the first week after the free days and then $12 each day in the second week.

From the 19th day, it charges $24 per day up to the delivery.

For a 40-foot container, the charges are double.