On July 24, the Finance Ministry approved the proposed new tariffs for the Chittagong ports, and a gazette was published where a draft proposal has been submitted to increase the container holding fee of Chittagong port by 4,400 taka.
However users have already objected to the price hike, and the issue of price hike is being considered again in the gazette. Ports secretary Md Omar Faruk said a meeting chaired by the shipping Ministry’s Advisor Sakhawat Hossain will be held on Monday where both the port authorities and users will be present to review the new tariffs.
The analysis of the proposal approved by the ministry of finance has already shown that once the gadget is implemented, the port’s revenue will increase by an average of 41%. The new tariff plan suggests that the largest price increase will be in container holding services because most of the port’s revenue is spent on container services. According to the new gazette service providers will have to spend an additional Tk 4,395 for every 20-foot container.
Users opposed the gazette saying the sudden 41% price increase would increase consumer spending and reduce export competitiveness. However the government says that this is the first tariff revision since 1986 and that even after the price increase, the tariff rate will remain much lower than that of neighboring countries and the port will be managed more efficiently.
