Overseas importers threaten to give up on Indonesian goods

Overseas importers threaten to give up on Indonesian goods

JAKARTA (JP): Overseas importers are threatening to seek
alternative sources of manufactured goods if congested conditions
at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port do not improve, an official says.

Director General of Foreign Trade Djoko Moeljono was quoted
yesterday by Antara as saying that the threat had been made
because several products imported from Indonesia, such as
garments and shoes, required fast shipment because of changing
trends in fashion.

The threat from overseas importers comes only weeks after
foreign shipping lines threatened to impose congestion surcharges
of US$100 for each 20-foot container and $200 for each 40-foot
container, which entered the port.

The shipping lines, however, subsequently withdrew the plan to
impose additional fees, saying that they would agree to "wait and
see" until Aug. 24, in view of the efficiency program being
conducted by PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, the state-owned firm
which manages the port.

Djoko said that the ports of Tanjung Mas in Semarang, Tanjung
Perak in Surabaya, Cigading in Cilegon and in Cirebon, should
also be upgraded so that they could effectively support the cargo
handling activities of Tanjung Priok.

Tanjung Priok has also been under fire for its heavy red tape,
poor management and lack of coordination in cargo-handling
procedures.

The congested conditions at the port have resulted in
prolonged waiting times for ships, causing them financial losses.

Pelabuhan Indonesia II has responded by launching a program
which will involve the construction of infrastructure facilities
and a simplification of documentation procedures.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, after meeting
with Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday, said that there had
been "very significant" improvements at Tanjung Priok as a result
of the program.

The waiting time for ships, he said, had declined from 24
hours, recorded before June 1 -- when the port launched a new
system for port procedures -- to nine hours.

The productivity of stevedoring activities at the container
port had, Haryanto said, also increased; from 2,400 boxes per day
before June 1 to 3,000 boxes per day at present.

"Hopefully, we can reach the target of 3,500 boxes per day,"
he said.

The waiting time for ships berthing at the conventional port,
he said, had also fallen by 10 percent and stevedoring activities
had increased from 40,000 tons to 48,000 tons per day. (pwn)