It is said the shipping lines have increased the number of surcharges at Chennai port and the port users find it difficult to meet them. Originally, there was only one surcharge, namely, the congestion charge. But today, there are some more charges such as equipment charge and container imbalance and cost recovery charge. Charges ultimately affect only the exporters and importers as the charge contributes to the invoice pricing. According to an exporter, “In a globally competitive market, such additional cost per box in the form of surcharges will cripple our industry”. It is generally felt that surcharge has proved to be a convenient strategy used by the feeder operators and the shipping lines to use it to generate more revenue and there does not seem to be any policy behind such levy of surcharges. An official of a customs house agency is said to have observed: “There is no scientific method for publishing charges. It has become a convenient tool to enhance their revenue at the cost of trade”. And the trade is helpless for fear of delay or denial of clearance to export. There is the other side to the issue of surcharges. The shipping lines have their own reasons for levying surcharges. According to an official of a large shipping line, the container movements are not the way they should be in; unpredictable delays in the timely movements of the containers appear to be the reasons behind the equipment surcharge. The official said: “Once the container comes in, we do not know when it will go out. It is very unpredictable here”. The trade imbalance, the imports exceed the exports, leads to the situation where the containers lie unused while there are demands for them in countries like China. From the point of view of a port user, there should be a regulatory body for overseas pricing and levy of surcharges.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Too many surcharges affect the trade at Chennai port
It is said the shipping lines have increased the number of surcharges at Chennai port and the port users find it difficult to meet them. Originally, there was only one surcharge, namely, the congestion charge. But today, there are some more charges such as equipment charge and container imbalance and cost recovery charge. Charges ultimately affect only the exporters and importers as the charge contributes to the invoice pricing. According to an exporter, “In a globally competitive market, such additional cost per box in the form of surcharges will cripple our industry”. It is generally felt that surcharge has proved to be a convenient strategy used by the feeder operators and the shipping lines to use it to generate more revenue and there does not seem to be any policy behind such levy of surcharges. An official of a customs house agency is said to have observed: “There is no scientific method for publishing charges. It has become a convenient tool to enhance their revenue at the cost of trade”. And the trade is helpless for fear of delay or denial of clearance to export. There is the other side to the issue of surcharges. The shipping lines have their own reasons for levying surcharges. According to an official of a large shipping line, the container movements are not the way they should be in; unpredictable delays in the timely movements of the containers appear to be the reasons behind the equipment surcharge. The official said: “Once the container comes in, we do not know when it will go out. It is very unpredictable here”. The trade imbalance, the imports exceed the exports, leads to the situation where the containers lie unused while there are demands for them in countries like China. From the point of view of a port user, there should be a regulatory body for overseas pricing and levy of surcharges.
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