Importers oppose plan to stack imported goods

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Importers Association opposes the Minister of Transportation's plan to eliminate ship-side trucking of imported goods, arguing it will slow the flow of imports.

The association's chairman, Amirudin Saud, said yesterday the plan would add to importers' costs.

"The minister does not seems to understand what's going on at Tanjung Priok port (in Jakarta). Why does he plan to eliminate ship-side trucking which has helped ensure smoother flows of goods?" Amirudin asked.

Ship-side trucking of imported goods is the unloading of goods from ships to trucks, which take the goods directly to importers' warehouses.

So far the government has allowed ship-side trucking of certain imported goods, especially raw materials for further processing and basic needs like rice, sugar and soybean.

Last week Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said he would gradually eliminate ship-side trucking and require the imported goods to be temporarily stacked at terminal warehouses or container yards before being cleared through customs.

Haryanto said this would increase the utilization rate of warehouses at Tanjung Priok port from its current level of between only 30 percent and 40 percent.

"What's more important is how we make our ports competitive. The next step would be to eliminate gradually ship-side trucking)," Haryanto said.

He said ship-side trucking sometimes took a long time when trucks were unavailable because of traffic jams.

Amirudin said Minister Haryanto's reasons to eliminate ship- side trucking were fabricated.

He said the port should serve as a transit point for exports and imports and help expedite flows of exports and imports.

The Tanjung Priok port authority should not maximize its revenue from its warehousing business by holding up imports or exports, Amirudin said.

He said trucks being unavailable during stevedoring was rare.

"Even though it happens, it's easy to handle. Please, don't eliminate ship-side trucking because of such rare cases," Amirudin said.

"Anyway, eliminating ship-side trucking is not the authority of the transportation minister but the finance minister. He (Haryanto) should have known this," he said.

He said requiring importers to stack their imported goods at warehouses or in container yards would add to importers' costs.

The additional costs include mechanical costs of between Rp 5,000 to Rp 7,500 an hour, forklift-usage costs of Rp 5,500 a ton and stacking or warehousing costs of between Rp 90 to Rp 250 a ton or cubic meter a day.

"That does not include possible weight or volume reduction of goods, damage caused by handling and the costs of clearing the goods from the warehouses," Amirudin said.

He said eliminating ship-side trucking would disturb production processes at factories if the raw materials were still in port warehouses.

Last year 71 percent of Indonesia's imports were raw materials, 22 percent capital goods and 7 percent consumer goods. (rid)