The Management of the APM Terminals Apapa announced a 50 per cent discount on 1,290 longstanding containers at the Apapa port in Lagos. The leading container terminal port operator said the move was aimed at decongesting the port.
The concessionaire was reported to have said in a notice to port users, on Monday, that the gesture was to support the efforts of the Nigerian Ports Authority to decongest the port to enable the discharge of new containers.
It added that it urgently requested the importers of the listed 1,290 containers that had been in the terminal for 365 days to 4000 days, to clear them.
It stated, “To assist importers, and in support of government policy, the terminal will offer 50 per cent discount on the storage charges for any of the listed containers delivered until 15th of March 2020. The full tariff will be payable from 16th of March 2020.”
Recall that the concessionaire had urged importers to ensure prompt delivery of their containers to avoid buildup at the port as a result of increasing volumes.
In a statement issued last year, APMT said, “We have recently experienced a substantial increase in the volume of containers arriving through the seaports. This positive development can be attributed to various positive government policies such as improvement in the implementation of ease of doing business policy, the Agriculture Promotion Policy and closure of land borders to curtail smuggling activities amongst others.
“However, if these containers are not cleared by customers soon enough, this volume increase could lead to high yard density which could impact berthing of vessels resulting in vessel queues. We are anticipating further improvement ahead of Christmas and year-end,
“We, therefore, urge all the relevant stakeholders and the wider port community to ensure timely delivery of containers in an effective manner without compromising the government’s policies and procedures. The terminal is willing to offer a discount for longstanding containers commensurate with dwell time and therefore urge customers with containers in this category to take advantage of the offer and take delivery of their containers.”
