Over 100,000 containers stucked at Cat Lai port need to be digested

According to Saigon Newport Corporation, following the three-week implementation of Directive 16's social distancing order, the volume of containers entering and leaving ships, delivering and receiving yards, and the number of vehicles entering and leaving the port of delivery continued to decline, resulting in an increase in Cat Lai port's inventory capacity.

In detail, the entire backlog at Cat Lai port has reached 106.717 containers, accounting for 86 percent of yard storage capacity, raising concerns about how long-awaited imported products would impact output.

50,872 containers with an average weight of approximately 15 tons of imported goods are backlogged, accounting for 96 percent of design capacity. Specifically, 6,544 containers were piled for more than 90 days, prompting the port authority to request instruction to transfer the logs to other facilities to alleviate the situation, but the request has yet to be approved by Customs.

In the same scenario, exported products account for 30,000 containers or 76 percent of the planned capacity; the remaining containers are empty. The entire yard inventory is projected to grow by about 5% to 115,000 containers during the next two weeks, accounting for approximately 91% of the design capacity.

Imports will rise by about 5% to 53,500 containers (accounting for 100 percent of the design capacity of imported goods). Exports will stay constant at 76 percent of design capacity.

Numerous businesses ceased operations or were unable to run due to their inability to comply with three on-site measure mandated by several provincial and local authorities, including Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Ho Chi Minh City. The issue has resulted in container backlogs at many seaports. As product movement at Cat Lai port decreased, the number of commodities collected at this port increased as well.

Confronted with this situation, the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City immediately notified the General Department of Customs and proposed that the "stuck" goods in Cat Lai destination port be transported to intermediate customs clearance locations prior to completing customs clearance procedures through independent transport or paper handover records between the Departments.

The Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City actively proposes to the General Department of Customs that the competent authority allow Saigon Newport Corporation to transport backlogged goods from Cat Lai port to Tan Cang Hiep Phuoc port for a period of more than 90 days in order to relieve the former of its load.

Additionally, the local unit proposed that Saigon Newport Corporation lease ports in the Ho Chi Minh City area (SP-ITC port, Vict port, Lotus port, Tan Thuan port...) for the purpose of storing goods and alleviating pressure on Cat Lai port in the midst of the complicated COVID-19 pandemic in the Southern region.

According to the department, Saigon Newport Corporation should be permitted to temporarily store imported goods at the port of discharge - Cai Mep Port - while awaiting independent transportation procedures to the destination port of Cat Lai, without being sanctioned for administrative violations occurring after the time limit for customs procedures when enterprises register declarations.

In the near future, The Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City has also agreed with specialized agencies to allow businesses to submit the scanned certificate electronically during the application of Directive 16 and then add the original to limit the number of people arriving at the port to register for procedures.