Container loading/discharge tariffs to rise

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to increase the international container loading and discharge tariffs at major local ports by an average 15 percent starting Oct. 1.

Under the new tariff plan, approved late last month, fees for the loading and discharge of a 20-foot container (20 TEUs) will increase to US$93.1 from the current $81, while for 40-foot containers the fee will be hiked to $139.1 from $121.

The new policy is aimed at attracting investment in the country's shipping ports. The government is planning to privatize a couple of shipping ports in a bid to raise cash to help finance the state budget.

The Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) welcomed the plan, but urged the government to impose a different tariff for Indonesian-registered ships to help the ailing local shipping industry.

"We think the new tariff plan is still reasonable because the tariffs here are still lower than those in other countries," INSA chairman Barens Saragih said.

"But we hope the new tariff would only be imposed on foreign ships ... so we (local shipping) can compete with them," he said, adding that other countries were also giving incentives to their local shipping industries.

Barens noted that by providing such incentives, more foreign- flagged ships operating in Indonesia, most of which were actually owned by domestic businessmen, would re-register their ships to become Indonesian-flagged ships.

INSA has long demanded the government provide incentives as the local shipping industry was quickly losing market share.

Data from the association showed that the local shipping companies had only a 4.62 percent share in the shipment of goods to and from the country in 2000, while foreign cargo ships transported 95.38 percent of the 354.3 million tons of shipped goods.