Port fees discounted 20% to lure transit cargoes

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) decided to reduce port passage fees (entering and departing) by 20% in order to lure transit cargoes starting from October 1st. It will last until the end of next year.
Starting October 1st, port passage fees will be 3,360 won per TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit), down 840 won from 4,200 won. Shipping lines are expected to save over 1.2 billion won for the period. This discount along with others will allow shipping companies to enjoy a total discount of 60% for passage fees.
Kobe, Shanghai, Kaohsiung and other main ports in Southeast Asia offer incentives and benefits for things such as port utility costs, facility usage fees, and terminal lease fees to secure transit cargoes. MOMAF confessed that the fee reduction was in response to aggressive marketing by neighboring ports. Especially for the logistics business, it requires lots of time and labor to recover after losses.
The government also planned to encourage private terminal operating and stevedoring companies to lower port fees on their own to maximize and support the government’s rates discount strategy.