Container loading/discharge tariffs to rise

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.