Multinational Port Congestion, Importers Or Abandoned Goods! Please Pay Attention To Freight Forwarder And Foreign Trade!

Ports in South America, Africa and Asia are congested! When the epidemic is spreading and the economy is sluggish, the importers should not abandon them. The foreign traders who export the relevant goods must pay attention to it so as to avoid unnecessary losses.

At the beginning of June, Santos, the largest container port in South America, was heavily congested. More than 70 ships were queuing up to load sugar for export. Buyers from all over the world rushed to buy before the epidemic could affect the city. It may take a month for all ships to complete the shipment. (see article for details: 70 ships line up, South America's largest container port is seriously congested! Pay attention to shipment! )

However, not only Santos, but also some ports are in congestion. At present, the more congested ports are as follows:

1. The port of APAPA in Lagos is heavily congested and the ships are forced to wait for 50 days

According to foreign media reports, many ships transporting goods to Nigeria's seaports are forced to wait 50 days at their berths before they can enter the port to unload full containers. As a result, there are serious congestion at all ports.

At present, ships have been waiting for dozens of days in Lagos and tin can ports in Nigeria. In addition to the increased transit time of goods, about 1000 containers of export raw materials were detained along the exit corridor due to traffic chaos caused by trucks carrying export goods.

In addition, more than 800 export containers have been abandoned at APAPA port due to port congestion, and the goods cannot enter the terminal. As a result, the Nigerian shippers' Council (NSC) ensured that the withdrawal of goods by rail was resumed in APAPA.

In the face of massive congestion at the port, Bello, executive secretary of the Nigerian shippers' Council, represented by Ms. ifeoma ezedinma, director of regulatory services, said that the Council had recently promoted the signing of a new standard operating procedure (SOP) between the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and APM terminals in an effort to eliminate port congestion through the railway system.

The director of the board of directors of the port of Bello has given up the cargo supervision service due to the attendance of the NRC. Many importers refuse to clear the goods because they are not sure when the goods will be delivered. Looking ahead, the ultimate goal is to ensure that imported goods are transported by rail or barge, while raw materials for export are allowed to be transported by road. "

The Council has recently received many complaints that exports cannot be transferred to ports. "We should not stack containers in ports," they explained. The port is not a warehouse. These importers are reluctant to pick up the goods because they don't have their own warehouses and they think it's safer and cheaper in the port. "

They also said that many warehouses were closed during the blockade. Therefore, they prefer to leave the container in the port. The collateral effect is that the ship just has to pay in front of the berth and add that 50 days is a lot of money, but guess who paid? Maybe it's the consumer.

2. Congestion and delay in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa's largest port, is suffering from severe congestion due to the epidemic, with a week-long delay in berthing, forcing shipping companies serving South Africa routes to reset their sailing schedules and impose congestion surcharges on shippers who continue to use the Eastern Cape Town terminal.

On June 18, CMA CGM announced that Cape Town would charge congestion charges of $550 per 20 foot containers and $1100 per 40 foot containers for dry and refrigerated containers, with effect from July 1.

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　　 This is a supplement to the $200 recovery in general cost per container for South Africa imported from Asia, announced on the same day. Meanwhile, SAECS, jointly provided by Maersk, one and Dal, will bypass the port of Cape Town and switch to South African routes, focusing on Durban and nkala.

It is understood that Cape Town has one of the highest infection rates of covid-19 in the country, and many cases have been reported among workers at the Cape Town container terminal, which has resulted in a significant reduction in the port's services to ships, resulting in berthing delays of up to a week.

But Maersk, in a consultation this week, said it was transforming its WAF1 service, which normally serves West African ports on a route from Algeciras to Durban, into a dedicated shuttle between Cape Town and alhersilas.

"Based on customer demand, we will further deploy additional regional aircraft from CPT to continue transshipment to Europe," Maersk said. We believe that the plan is the best solution based on the current port and market conditions. However, we fully understand that the dynamics of port conditions in South Africa are likely to continue to change. As a result, Maersk will continue to re evaluate our products (weekly) for the rest of the citrus season to ensure that they meet the needs of our customers. "

With the arrival of the orange transportation season, it is predicted that South African citrus growers will create a record harvest of 143.3 million boxes this year, an increase of 13% over 2019. "Congestion in some ports remains the biggest threat to the current citrus season," the Citrus Growers Association said.

However, Maersk said:

1. We have also deployed more variable speed feeder ships off the coast of South Africa, which gives us more options in terms of faster loading and flexible terminal replacement. In the absence of SAECS rotation in Cape Town, we will still deploy the same number of vessels, and we hope that there will be sufficient buffer to ensure the timely arrival of goods in Europe, reduce the omission or serious delay of European ports, and greatly shorten the transit time from Durban.

2. From Cape Town to alhersilas, our goal is to provide dedicated and reliable services to this market by shortening the time required for rapid access to the Mediterranean. The transshipment time of alceras and transshipment in Russia will be minimal. "

We will have two cross docking services in Cape Town on June 29.

3. A new channel will be set up in Chittagong, Bangladesh

It is reported that a new container barge service has been opened in Chittagong, which can give priority to berthing and avoid congestion. At the same time, the route service also connects Singapore, port of Basang and Colombo and other important transit ports.

The container barge service set sail at Chittagong port on June 22, which opened a new channel for carriers to transport barge cargo to trunk ships. The new branch line of Bangladesh express service is operated by local shipping company HR lines using two 1500 TEU sister ships sarera and sahare and will depart from Chittagong on Monday.

Up to 50% of the cargoes will be protected in the Chittagong port under the bangladesh flag act 2019.

Cargo owners welcome the new feeder service as its priority berths will help them deliver containers earlier, while other vessels may face congestion in Chittagong. "This is good news for us," said Sahed Hossain, a clothing exporter. The regular day service will ensure that our goods arrive in time to catch up with the big ship. "

Five days notice to Bangladesh customs

During the public holiday period from March 26 to May 31 during the outbreak of covid-19, the importers did not accept the delivery of goods due to the closure of the port, so the import goods continued to accumulate in the port, which exceeded their affordability.

Customs authorities have stipulated that in order to ease congestion at the port, importers must submit an entry form within five working days after the arrival of the imported goods at the port. The Council of the exchequer proposed on Thursday, January 1936, under the provisional provisions of the tax act. As of June 10, the maximum deadline for submission is 30 days.

A senior customs official said that if the goods are not released within the specified five days, the customs will take disciplinary measures in accordance with the violation provisions of the Customs Act 1969. After the submission of the master import manifest (IgM), the importer must submit his / her own entry manifest to the relevant customs officer in accordance with Article 79 (1b) of the Customs Law.

The Customs has also imposed more stringent punitive provisions on importers for false declaration of import and export goods

1. Traders must pay a fine of at least two to four times the amount of tax missed in false declaration.

2. The customs may also confiscate the goods carried with false declaration.

3. Importers or exporters may also be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine not exceeding 50000 TK or both for such violations.

Officials said delays in the submission of documents such as entry permits have led to port congestion, as customs related activities only begin after the documents have been submitted. However, the importers believe that the time limit should be extended to two weeks, as many of them face transport problems, labour shortages and, in some cases, inability to release goods on public holidays.

Solaiman parsee Faisal, managing director of Faisal polymer limited, said that no importer had deliberately left the goods in port for a long time because they had to consider the warehouse rent for the goods that had not been cleared in time.

Mohammad Iqbal Jamal, former co convenor of the budget executive committee of the Bangladesh Federation of Commerce and industry (fbcci), said importers should be given scope to explain the reasons for the delay in the submission of entry permits. He added that if the importer can show a valid reason, the customs can be exempted from the fine.

4. Increase congestion surcharge in Libya port

According to reports, as of June 16, 2020, Libya's ports are currently closed in Sirte and Dena. The port of Benghazi is heavily congested.

Considering the improvement of traffic congestion in Benghazi, Libya, Dafei will revise the port congestion surcharge.

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　　 The details are as follows:

Container type: all sizes (20 '/ 40' / 45 ') and container type (dry / refrigerated / special equipment / OOG)

Amount: 35 USD / TEU

Application date: June 16, 2020 (except Brazil: July 16 to August 30, 2020)

The above is the latest situation of port congestion in recent years. Please pay attention to the export of relevant goods to avoid unnecessary loss.