Chennai container tariffs to rise in August

Chennai container tariffs to rise in August    The Dubai Ports World-run container terminal in the Port of Chennai will increase tariffs by 10 percent, as of August, the Hindu Business Line reported.
   The revised tariff will run through the end of 2009, according to an order released by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the government agency that oversees tariff levels in the country’s 12 central government-owned ports.
   Chennai is India’s second-busiest container port, after Jawaharlal Nehru near Mumbai, and handled 1.1 million TEUs in 2007.
   DP World, the Dubai-based terminal operator, had been seeking a 14 percent tariff hike for its Chennai Container Terminal Ltd. facility. However, the Chennai Ennore Port Steamer Agents Association told the newspaper that congestion in the port and rising volume should have precipitated a reduction in tariffs, not an increase.
   'There are frequent disruption of services and congestion in CCTL,” the ship owners association said. “The shipping lines do not get any benefit of the efficiency gain claimed by CCTL. The volumes at CCTL have considerably increased, but this is not accompanied by any tariff reduction. Increased tariff burden should not be imposed on the trade. In fact, there is a case for reduction in tariff.'