The Port of Houston in the United States will charge shippers import container detention fees starting February 1, 2023.
Against the backdrop of strong growth in container throughput, the Port of Houston, a major container port in the United States, recently announced that it will officially charge import container demurrage fees (Import Dwell Fee) to shippers starting February 1, 2023.
“With the recent increase in demand, we have seen challenges with containers sitting at the terminals for extended periods of time,” said Roger Guenther, executive director of the Port of Houston, in announcing the new fee. “The import container detention fee is designed to minimize the long-term storage of containers at the terminals and promote enhanced cargo mobility.”
The specific charging standard is: starting from the 8th day after the free storage period ends, a detention fee of US$45 per container per day will be charged to the import containers at the Port of Houston, and the charge will be levied on the cargo owners. The detention fee applies to the two container terminals of Barbours Cut and Bayport in the Port of Houston.
The Port of Houston emphasized that this fee is in addition to demurrage charges for imported containers and does not replace demurrage charges.
In fact, the Port of Houston had previously announced this charging plan, but due to port reasons, the charging time was postponed.
Statistics show that the container throughput of the Port of Houston performed strongly in November 2022, handling a total of 348,950 TEUs, an increase of 11% year-on-year.
Roger Guenther is optimistic about the growth momentum of container volume in the Port of Houston. He said: "Houston's container volume growth prospects are promising. Retailers continue to invest in distribution centers in our area, which will be served by the Port of Houston."
It is worth noting that in addition to the Port of Houston, in order to solve the problem of a large number of container backlogs, the two major ports in the western United States, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, also previously charged container overstay fees. However, with the end of the surge in cargo volume at California ports, the two ports announced that they would not charge this fee.
After a busy start to 2022, cargo volumes at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have weakened in recent months as U.S. importers worried that labor-management negotiations at West Coast terminals would affect port operations and therefore shifted cargo to ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.
At the same time, shipping companies have also adjusted some routes to deliver more containers to ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States.
Currently, the Port of New York and the Port of New Jersey on the east coast of the United States have replaced the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach to become the busiest container ports in the United States.
Original text from:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/u6DjSkIqpJNU1qJ4wXt1kg
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