Rise in fuel price: Now ICDs raise service charge

Private inland container depots (ICDs) have raised the charge for one of a couple of services requiring the use of diesel reasoning the August 5 price hike of fuels. 

The government hiked fuel prices by up to 51.7 per cent, the highest in the country's history. The price of each litre of diesel has reached Tk 114 from Tk 80.

In a notice yesterday, Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (Bicda) said the tariff for a service involving the handling of import-laden containers had been increased by around 34 per cent with immediate effect.

Overall, charges for five types of services requiring use of diesel, such as vehicular and equipment operations, need to be adjusted with the fuel price hike, Bicda Secretary General Md Ruhul Amin Sikder told The Daily Star.

The Bicda members are still in discussion over raising four other charges, including those for handling export containers, haulage, lifting and verifying gross mass.

According to the Bicda circular, the charge for the import handling service involving a 20-foot container has been raised from Tk 9,754 to Tk 13,080 while for a 40-foot container from Tk 11,255 to Tk 15,107.

The service includes transporting a container with imports from the Chattogram port yard to a depot and from the depot yard to a delivery yard by using forklifts and loading goods of containers onto the receiver's truck.

Importers and exporters will have to bear this rise in cost, said Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry's President Mahbubul Alam.

A fuel prices hike understandably impacts every stage of the supply chain, said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam.

But Bicda should have first discussed with stakeholders for the increase to be rational, he said.

Bicda Secretary General Sikder said though diesel was now over 42.5 per cent costlier, they had raised the import handling charge by only 34 per cent after a rational analysis.

Sources said the ICD owners intend to raise the four other charges by 42 per cent.

In this regard, Sikder said they would analyse the overall cost enhancement before taking a decision.

These charges are only applicable to import and export-laden containers that are handled at the private ICDs, known as off-docks, instead of the port.

Currently, almost 90 per cent of exports are loaded into containers at the 19 private ICDs located in and around the port city before they are shipped off through the Chattogram port.

On the other hand, 21 per cent of import-laden containers are sent from the port to these ICDs from where the goods are brought out and delivered to the receivers.

Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association Vice President Khairul Alam Sujan said they would soon sit with the Bicda leaders to ensure that the increases were rational.