Foreign shipping lines have raised  freight charges

Do Xuan Quang, chair of the Vietnam Logistics Association (VLA), said that shipping fees account for 50-60 percent of total logistics services. 

The import/export transportation market is controlled by foreign shipping firms. Domestic enterprises work for foreign firms in stocktaking and goods handling.

Secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said companies have complained about the freight hike, saying they lead to higher production costs.

Mearsk/MCC Line, which holds the largest market share in Vietnam, for example, has been raising freight in the last five years. 

In 2013, the shipping firm collected VND4 million per container in THC (terminal handling charges), but in 2018, it collects VND5.2 million. 

The DO (delivery order) fee has been lifted from VND550,000 in 2013 to VND730,000. The figures are VND490,000 per container and VND680,000 for container cleaning fee.

Besides the official fees, goods owners are also burdened by surcharges set by shipping firms. These include VGM (verified gross mass) VND300,000-550,000 per consignment and data transmission fee. Vietnamese agents transmit data to overseas agents via websites, but Vietnamese goods owners have to pay the fee, VND750,000-850,000 per consignment.

In particular, since 2016, Mearsk/MCC Line has collected CIC (container charge imbalance), $60 per container. 

Meanwhile, ZIM and MSC have been collecting barge fees since August 2017. This is the fee for carrying containers by barge from ICDs (inland container depots) and ports in HCM City to Cai Mep Port, where containers are put on board.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) said there are many problems in the fee and surcharge collection, because there is no consent between shipping firms and Vietnamese import/export owners. 

At present, there is no state agency controlling the imposition of surcharges, i.e. the fees enterprises have to pay besides the official sea freight. 

Meanwhile, goods owners are not informed in advance about the fee and the collection time.

High transportation fees and logistics costs are worrying enterprises. 

Regarding the domestic transport routes, according to MOT, road transport undertakes 77.2 percent of total transport workload, while domestic waterways and seaways just account for 17.14 percent and 5.22 percent, respectively. 

The figures are even smaller, 0.42 percent and 0.02 percent, for railways and airways.

On the north-south route, railway and seaway transportation is less favourable than road transport because of bad land logistics services.

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Chi Mai