Fees for container handling to increase by 30 percent

Fees for container handling to increase by 30 percent

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Communications will raise
handling fees for containers in terminals operated by state-owned
port operator PT Pelindo II by an average of 30 percent beginning
next month.

The fees for the loading and unloading of a 20-foot container
will cost Rp 6,500 a day ($0.80), up from the previous Rp 5,000 a
day. For 40-foot containers, the fee is being hiked to Rp 13,000
a day from the present Rp 10,000 a day.

Pelindo II operates Tanjung Priok port and other seaports in
western Indonesia.

Chairman of the Indonesian Importers' Association (Ginsi)
Amirudin Saud said that the hike was reasonable as the handling
charges for containers had not been raised for the last seven
years.

"The members of Ginsi and the Indonesian Exporters'
Association (GPEI) are able to accept the hike, as it is the only
way to go," he was quoted by Antara as saying on Thursday.

The increase in port service charges could not be separated
from hikes in fuel prices and electricity rates, fluctuations in
the value of the rupiah against the dollar, and high inflation,
Amirudin said.

He stressed that the hike would not disrupt import and export
activities as the fees after the hike would still, in fact, be
some 40 percent lower than the fees charged in Singapore.

Exports have been performing excellently, Amirudin said,
adding that exports for the first six months of the year were 10
times higher than during the same period ten years ago.

On the other hand, there had been a change in the composition
of imports as between capital and consumption goods, which had
dropped both in volume and value, and of raw materials and
production goods which now comprise some 70 percent of all
imports, he said.

"The increase in imports of raw materials and production
goods, signals the reactivation of domestic manufacturing
production.

"Hopefully (this means) the real sector will return to
normal," Amirudin said. (10)