The Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association is going to implement the new handling charges at private inland container depots on Monday, hiking the rates by up to 44 per cent for the exporting cargoes.
Earlier, the BICDA announced the new tariff structure in a circular issued on July 15, stating a significant hike in container handling charges.
According to the circular, the new rates would increase the handling charge for a twenty-foot export container from Tk 6,187 to Tk 9,900.
Moreover, for a forty-foot container, the charge would hike from Tk 8,250 to Tk聽13,200, and the charge would be Tk聽14,900 for forty-foot high-cube or forty-five-foot containers, said the circular.
Export cargo handling fees would witness a 36 per cent to 44 per cent hike, while empty container handling charges would also increase by up to 31.8 per cent.
The change in charge structure is expected to drive up costs for exporters, especially in the garment sector, the exporters feared.
Charges for import container handling, however, will remain unchanged.
Regarding the hike in charges, the BICDA said that the increase was a necessary adjustment to cover mounting operational and investment costs, including labour and equipment costs, maintenance expenses, the devaluation of the taka against the US dollar, and rising bank interest rates.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of BICDA, said that their operating costs have surged over the last few years and they had no alternative to revising the charges.
鈥楬owever, this hike wouldn鈥檛 impact the exporters as the importers would bear the additional cost,鈥� he added.
However,聽Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told 抖阴精品 that the hike was 鈥榰nreasonable鈥�.
鈥楾hey didn鈥檛 discuss with us and other stakeholders before the decision of cost hike and we have to take the increased charge as we haven鈥檛 any alternatives,鈥� he added.
They have to bear the labour costs and other costs, he added, saying that ICDs are already struggling with capacity issues; increasing charges would worsen the crisis.
According to BICDA, along with handling charges, they also hiked the other fees including ground rent, documentation, and lift-on/lift-off charges.
Ground rent has been set at Tk聽150 for 20-foot containers (up from Tk 115), and Tk聽300 for 40-foot and larger containers (up from Tk 230).
Moreover, the landing charge per tonne has been set at Tk 270 (up from Tk 207); the documentation fee at Tk 450 (up from Tk 276); and the lift-on/lift-off charge at Tk 750 (up from Tk 512).
Transportation fees for empty containers would also rise. For 20-foot containers, the charge would increase to Tk聽2,500 from Tk 1,705, while 40-foot high-cube or 45-foot containers will cost Tk聽4,000, up from Tk 3,410.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the country鈥簊 freight forwarders called for a review of the decision, as the hike would have a severe impact on the country鈥檚 economy by hindering both export and import.
In a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters鈥� Unity, Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association Member Abrarul Alam said the decision has raised serious concerns for the country鈥簊 export-oriented economy, especially during this critical period.
He also said that the decision came amid an ongoing global economic downturn, a sluggish local economy, political instability in the country, US tariff hikes, and overall market turmoil.
Currently, there are 19 private ICDs, which handle approximately 93 per cent of Bangladesh鈥簊 export cargo and 20 per cent of its containerised imports, managing significant volumes of empty containers.
