Port of Houston to hike container, breakbulk fees

THE US Port of Houston plans to raise its port fees by three per cent for containers and two per cent for breakbulk and project cargo in spite of shipping lines and port stakeholders being opposed to the move.

Representatives from container carriers Mediterranean Shipping Company, Zim Lines and Hapag-Lloyd are reported to have requested that the port commission postpone the tariff increase as all of the shipping lines said they were struggling, according to a recording of the meeting made by and available online at Guidry News Service.

Salvatore Bruno, Hapag Lloyd's senior vice president for the Gulf Pacific region, said the carrier's losses over the last two years have been the highest in its 200-year history. To reduce operating expenses, John Edel, Gulf region vice president for Zim Lines, said that Zim has laid off staff, laid up vessels and has scrapped a direct call to Asia from the Gulf.

This comes amid projections by Port of Houston of operating costs growing by US$8 million during 2010, or more than eight per cent on container operations and 8.7 per cent on general cargo operations.

According to local news sources, the higher operating costs will be driven by increases in fuel, labour, security and infrastructure costs. The port's executive director Alec Dreyer was quoted as saying that despite the tariff increase, the port will be absorbing most of these new costs and Houston's tariff will be one of the lowest at a major US ports.

In the first half of 2009, Hapag-Lloyd posted losses of $662 million, while Zim suffered losses of $302 million.

Source: www.schednet.com