A leading conference executive has called on shippers and shipping lines to hold talks on removing 'grey areas' which have made terminal handling charges (THCs) such a contentious issue.
Kenichi Kuroya, chairman of the Intra-Asia Discussion Agreement (Iada), a loose affiliation of carriers plying the intra-Asia trades, said he would work towards greater transparency of the factors dictating THC levels.
'The final goal, from an Iada liner point of view, is to arrive at a common understanding of the cost elements of the THC,' Mr Kuroya said.
'Then we can justify any rises we may have to implement. It is now time, as traditional trading partners, for shippers and shipping lines to agree what is in the THC.'
THC are set by the shipping lines as a 'cost-recovery' mechanism for the charges they incur - including container-handling charges (CHCs), buoyage, towage and pilotage fees - while calling at ports. Whether they are indeed purely cost-recovery in nature has been disputed by shippers and port operators, and the issue has been further clouded by the commercially sensitive contracts signed with both parties.
The call for dialogue by Mr Kuroya, who stressed he could speak only for Iada, follows a weekend where he surprised shippers in Shanghai at their annual tripartite councils meeting, saying shipping lines had always considered THC part of the freight rates. The comment raised the spectre of Asia exporters shipping cargo without having to pay the port of origin THC, passing the cost on to the consignee at destination.
