Jeff Davis, the chief port operation officer, said at the meeting of the Port Authority Committee on October 27: "Recently, the detention time of imported cargo containers has reached a peak of 10 days." It pointed out that when there are too many imported containers, the efficiency and capacity of the port yard, roads and ships will be affected.
Roger Guenther, Executive Director of Houston Port, said that the staff had evaluated several plans to improve the cargo flow of Houston Port, including reviewing the plans implemented by other ports in the United States to improve cargo mobility. The staff concluded that it was reasonable to further encourage the beneficiary cargo owner or the third party receiving charges on his behalf to move the container out of the terminal and shorten the stay time.
The Port Commission decided to implement the "Sustained Import Dwell Fee" from December 1, 2022, and also approved the "Excessive Import Dwell Fee". Both charges are in addition to demurrage.
These two charges are applicable to the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals at Houston Port, and must be paid before picking up containers. Both charges are charged to the owner.
The charging standard of "continuous import demurrage" is: for import containers detained at the port for 8 days or more, each container will be charged $45 per day.
"Excessive import demurrage" will be charged at the discretion of the Executive Director of Houston Port for containers with long detention time. The fee will take effect 30 days after the announcement is issued, and the validity period is at least 60 days. The charging standard is:
• One to three days after the free period, 50 dollars per case per day;
• After the free period, stay for 4-7 days, and charge 75 dollars per case per day;
• Stay for 8-13 days after the free period, and charge $100 per box per day;
• $150 per case per day for detention 14 days or more after the free period.
During the effective period of the excessive import demurrage, the continuous import demurrage will not continue to accumulate.
The Port of Houston said that the new charges are intended to help alleviate the problem of import containers staying in the port for a long time by encouraging the flow of goods.
As ships continue to look for alternative ports, to avoid the backlog of ports in East America and the potential labor interruption of ports in West America where contract negotiations are under way. In September this year, the throughput of Houston Port increased by 26% year on year to 354000 TEUs, including 31% year-on-year growth of cargo import containers.
The Port of Houston said that the total container traffic volume of its terminals has increased by 18% this year, approaching 3 million TEUs.
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