For the first time in nearly 40 years, tariffs (charges) for various services at Chattogram Port have been increased. A notification announcing the proposed new tariffs has been issued.
Overall, the tariffs have gone up by around 41% on average. The last tariff hike for different service sectors at Chattogram Port was in 1986. After almost four decades, the interim government has taken the initiative to increase port tariffs.
Md. Omar Faruk, Secretary of Chattogram Port, confirmed on Monday that the new tariffs came into effect from this morning. Earlier, the notification on the revised tariffs was issued late Sunday night. Chattogram Port collects tariffs in 52 categories, of which 23 have now been directly approved for increased rates.
It is learned that the Ministry of Finance approved the proposed tariffs on 24 July. At that time, port users objected to the decision to increase tariffs by an average of 41% at once.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Shipping held a round of discussions with port users. However, without accepting the objections, the port authorities issued the notification, thereby upholding their decision to raise tariffs.
Chattogram Port handles 92% of the country’s import-export-based sea trade and 98% of container and cargo transport. According to the government notification, the highest increase in tariffs has been in the container transport sector.
The tariff for each 20-foot-long container has risen from Tk 11,849 to Tk 16,243 — an increase of Tk 4,395. This amounts to an average increase of 37% per container.
Additionally, for container ships, tariffs have increased by Tk 5,720 for import containers and Tk 3,045 for export containers. Tariffs for loading and unloading each container have risen by nearly Tk 3,000.
The tariff per kilogram of containerized goods has increased by Tk 0.47 from the previous Tk 1.28.
