ICDs stop carrying cargoes to hike tariff
The owners of private inland container depots (ICDs) stopped transporting export containers of three foreign companies since yesterday morning to press home their long demand of a 22 per cent rise in tariff.
Denmark-based Maersk and Hong Kong-based Gold Star Line and Orient Overseas Container Line carry 60 to 65 per cent of the country's export cargoes to buyers.
Businesses now fear they would miss shipment deadlines because of the halt in loading from all the 18 ICDs.
To solve the issue, the leaders of the Bangladesh Container Shipping Association, one of the ICD users, sat in an urgent meeting yesterday. "But it ended without any solution," said an official present in the meeting.
It would be a fresh blow to the country's export sector which has been experiencing a downward trend from last year, said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, chairman of the standing committee on port and shipping of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The disruption took place at a time when businesses have been struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak in China, he said.
The ICD owners are trying to impose additional charges on different stakeholders separately, which is a violation of the ICD policy, said Khairul Alam Sujan, a director of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association.
They called the work abstention without any prior announcement when a tariff committee formed by the shipping ministry is working to review the ICD charges, he said.
Maersk Bangladesh informed its customers about the trade disruption through a letter yesterday.
Trucks and lorries carrying export-oriented goods which were scheduled to be transported by the containers of these three companies were not allowed to enter the ICDs since morning, said Delwar Hossain, senior general manager of Trident Shipping Line Ltd, the local agent of Gold Star Line.
"We came to know about the sudden decision only when one of our client-exporters informed in the morning that five vehicles carrying refrigerated containers loaded with potato were barred from entering an ICD."
Later, they came to know that the ICDs stopped transporting containers of two other companies as well, he said.
"I think they started it with three of us with an ill-motive as they would try to do it with others in phases."
The ICDs have been demanding for a raise in tariff for the last couple of years, but it was opposed by the major stakeholders, including the BGMEA and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Around 90 per cent of the country's export goods, including garment products, are first brought from across the country to these ICDs for completing customs procedures before they are loaded into containers and taken to Chattogram port for shipment.
Two weeks ago, 2,631 twenty-foot equivalent units of containers missed shipment deadline, as the drivers and helpers of prime mover-trailers refrained from operating the vehicles for around 80 hours.
This time, it is very unfortunate that the ICD owners, who are also part of the business community, are hampering the supply chain, Chowdhury said.
BAFFA President Kabir Ahmed met with Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for shipping, yesterday afternoon to talk over the issue.
The state minister has asked the shipping secretary to solve the matter as early as possible, Ahmed said.
Despite repeated attempts, this correspondent failed to reach Nurul Qayyum Khan, president of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association, for comments.