Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) urged the government to extend the waiver on storage rental at Chittagong port until May 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
CCCI President Mahbubul Alam on Sunday made the request in a letter sent to the State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
Thanking the Shipping Ministry for giving importers a full exemption from payment of storage rental charges on imported containers till May 4, the CCCI President said importers could not receive delivery of their containers from the port due to a liquidity crisis and the shortage of vehicles and labourers by the time.
According to the existing rules, there is no storage rental charge for 20-foot loaded containers for the first four days.
Upon expiry of the four-day grace period, importers have to pay $6 a day for every 20-foot container and $12 a day for every 40-foot container, up until day 20.
After that, storage rental fees are $24 per day for a 20-foot container and twice that for a 40-foot container.
The total storage capacity of Chittagong port is 49,018 TEUs.
Around 90% of the country’s exports and imports take place through Chittagong port.
