Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has threatened hiking fourfold its container storage charge if consignees do not speed up the rate at which they take away imports by March 9. 

The announcement came after the CPA found around 78 percent of its storage capacity occupied by import-laden containers just days ahead of Ramadan.

CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk said the decision was taken to change the practices of some importers who take a lot of time in receiving their import-laden containers from the port yard.

A notice regarding the move was issued by the CPA director (traffic) on February 20 highlighting issues faced at the Chattogram port's yards and Kamalapur inland container depot (ICD) in Dhaka.

In the notice, the port authority urged importers to hasten taking deliveries of containers, otherwise the higher rates would be slapped from March 10.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior official of the port's traffic department said some fully loaded containers, meaning those occupied by a single importer's goods, had been lying at the port for more than 21 days after being unloaded from ships.

"Every year ahead of Ramadan, many importers who bring in large amounts of essentials keep their imports at the port for extended periods eyeing the Ramadan market. They use the port yards as warehouses," he said.

"They try to take delivery of imports after finding the market prices favourable," he also said.

However, such piling up of import containers disrupts regular port operations and leads to congestion, the official added.

Meanwhile, berth operators said the port has seen a rise in commodity imports ahead of Ramadan, while daily deliveries of a portion of import-laden containers have slowed over the past few weeks.

This has led to an increase in such containers at designated storage spaces.

The number of fully loaded containers at the port has reached 31,384 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), nearly 78 percent of the port's storage capacity of 40,368 TEUs.

For smooth operations, berth operators usually prefer that 40 percent of the yard capacity remain vacant. To avoid congestion, the CPA in its notice urged importers to collect their imports quickly.

Failure to do so would result in storage rents four times higher than usual, starting from the fifth day after unloading, following the first four-day free period, said the port authority.

No storage rent is charged on the first four days after a container is unloaded from a vessel.

For a 20-foot loaded container, the port charges $6 per day for the first seven days after the free period, $12 per day from the 12th to the 20th day and $24 per day from the 21st day onward.

For a 40-foot container, the charges double at each stage.

If the new rates are imposed, importers will have to pay $24 per day for a 20-foot container from the fifth day after it is unloaded from a vessel.