Container throughput at Nigerian ports hits 387,016TEUs in Q1
The volume of containerised cargo in the nation’s seaports stood at 387,016 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) in the first quarter of 2018, representing a 7.1 percent drop from 416,806 TEUs recorded in the preceding quarter four of 2017.
Recent statistics as released by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) shows that the number of ship calls at the Nigerian seaports has dropped to 985 in the period under review from 1,017 recorded in the corresponding period in 2017.
This represents 3.15 percent decrease in number when compared with that of the previous year, and 2.3 percent decrease when compare with 1,008 vessels in the 4th quarter of 2017.
The NPA report however stated that ships had a higher gross tonnage of 31,693,650 metric tons as against 30,980,444 metric tons recorded same period in the previous year, but a decrease when compared with 32,598,477 metric tons recorded in the 4th quarter of 2017.
Similarly, the number of used and new vehicles declined as a total of 37, 584 vehicles were brought into the ports within the period under review, representing a decrease of 13.2 percent when compared to 43,338 units of vehicles received in the 4th quarter of the previous year.
Surprisingly, the NPA report reveals that cargo throughput grew by 8.6 percent to 18,729,889 metric tons in the first quarter of 2018, as against the 17,250,334 metric tons of cargo that was handled at seaports in the preceding 4th quarter of 2017.
According to NPA, inward cargo traffic stood at 10,617,318 metric tons in the 1st quarter of the year, representing 56.7 percent of the total cargo handled at the ports, while the outward cargo traffic stood at 8,112,671 metric tons, representing 46.3 percent of the total cargo traffic handled within the review period.
The NPA report further reveals that the turnaround time of vessels stood at 3.8 days when compared to 4.1 day in the 4th quarter of 2017, while berth occupancy rate was 32.8 percent as against 33.8 percent in the 4th quarter of 2017.
Commenting on the report that was released at the Nigerian Port Consultative Council (PCC) quarterly meeting held in Lagos recently, pundits, who rated the port performance report fairly, compared to the slow economic growth in the country, attributed the stable port activities to the growing volume of export of non-oil goods and stability of naira to dollar.
They say the nation’s seaports would have recorded better performance, if not for the poor road infrastructure that limits movement of cargo in and out of the ports.
On vehicle traffic, Emma Nwabunwanne, a Lagos based importer, who pleaded on the Federal Government to consider slashing the 70 percent import duty and levy charged on vehicles that come through the ports, said that slashing the duty will automatically make smuggling of vehicles through the land borders, unattractive.
“More Nigerian importers would continue to patronise ports in the neighbouring countries like Cotonou, where it is cheaper to buy and smuggle vehicles into Nigerian market, but reducing the tariff payable at the ports, will put the act to rest,” he said.
On the poor state of the road, Godwin Onyekachi, president, Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA), said that the major problem was the collapse of the Apapa–Oshodi Expressway, the major entry and exit for the ports, which has been neglected for several years by the Federal Government.
According to him, the situation forces truckers to use the Apapa-Ijora-Wharf road, which is very narrow and has been under construction for more than a year.
He called on the NPA to support and redirect the Navy in managing the traffic by regulating trucks’ access to the ports and deploying their tow trucks to remove idle or broken down trucks that are contributing to the gridlock.
Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie