India’s Port of Mumbai announced plans to extend concessions on container stuffing and de-stuffing charges for a further period of one year ending March, 2010, following appeals from shipping lines and local agents. The revised rates, slated to take effect March 11, would be $52 per twenty-foot container and $104 per forty-foot container for stuffing, while de-stuffing charges would be $56 and $112, the port authority stated in a trade announcement.
The authority earlier offered several incentives to users, including concessions on empty container storage charges as well as additional storage time, in a bid to boost its box volumes.
While the west coast hub posted an upward trend in total cargo throughput in recent years, having handled a record 57.03 million tons in fiscal 2007-08, its box traffic has been declining due mainly to inadequate infrastructure and the lack of timely capacity expansion.
The authority recently awarded a $300-million contract to build a new box facility through private participation. Expected to be ready by 2010, the project will enable the port to handle 6,000-TEU vessels and compete with the neighboring Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's largest container gateway.
Mumbai handled 117,596 TEUs in 2007-08, down 17.5 percent from 138,201 TEUs the previous year.
The authority earlier offered several incentives to users, including concessions on empty container storage charges as well as additional storage time, in a bid to boost its box volumes.
While the west coast hub posted an upward trend in total cargo throughput in recent years, having handled a record 57.03 million tons in fiscal 2007-08, its box traffic has been declining due mainly to inadequate infrastructure and the lack of timely capacity expansion.
The authority recently awarded a $300-million contract to build a new box facility through private participation. Expected to be ready by 2010, the project will enable the port to handle 6,000-TEU vessels and compete with the neighboring Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's largest container gateway.
Mumbai handled 117,596 TEUs in 2007-08, down 17.5 percent from 138,201 TEUs the previous year.