Dues in Rotterdam will be lowered next year to below the 2008 level. The existing discounts will be maintained, inflation will not be passed on again and the Port of Rotterdam Authority will be giving an extra two percent discount on the port dues, Cargonews Asia reports.
In addition to this, US$6.37 million of the port dues will be devoted specifically to initiatives from the business sector aimed at making the port more sustainable.
For several years now, the port authority has been giving discounts and not passing on inflation, due to the economic crisis. In 2013, this will result in an 8.6 percent discount compared to port tariffs if inflation had been passed on over the past few years and no extra discount had been offered. As a result, shippers will jointly pay around $38 million less to the port authority in 2013.
Hans Smits, CEO of the Port Authority: “Although throughput is rising slightly, a lot of companies are having a tough time. We hope that this massive discount will help our clients and bind cargo to Rotterdam. So it works both ways. We are also sending out a positive signal by spending an extra $6.37 million on initiatives by the business sector to make the port more sustainable.”
Port dues are just one of the port authority’s sources of income and they are charged to the shipping companies which use Rotterdam. In 2011, the Port Authority received $370.61 million in seaport dues
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