‘Aqaba Port delays could lead to rise in prices, shortage in supplies and factory closures’

AMMAN — An increase in the prices of some food items, a shortage of certain commodities and the closure of some small factories are all expected soon if the delay in freight handling at the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) is not addressed immediately, the Foodstuff Traders Association (FTA) warned Wednesday.

“There are still delays in handling shipments and clearance of containers at the terminal,” FTA President Khalil Haj Tawfiq told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“This is causing major losses and people will soon start to feel the impact. We are not exaggerating. We need to admit we have a problem,” Haj Tawfiq said.

Currently, about 4,000 containers are ready to be loaded onto trucks and sent to markets after undergoing all procedures but they have been in the terminal for days, he added.

In addition, 7,000 containers are still being processed and several procedures need to be completed, Haj Tawfiq noted.

“The majority of these containers include several types of foodstuff, canned food, meat and others... In addition, many containers have raw materials used at several factories such as those used in the production of cooking oil. Some of those factories have already stopped production due to the delays,” he said.

“The situation is very serious and if no solution is found, people will witness a shortage of some items and price increases… The reason why people did not feel the impact in spite of the delays at the terminal is that demand on food in general has witnessed a 25 per cent decline compared to last Ramadan.”

The association said it was going ahead with a plan to file a lawsuit against ACT and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) for “delays in handling shipments that cause major losses for merchants”.

Officials at ASEZA were not available for comment on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour reiterated the government’s commitment to finding permanent solutions to the problems in handling containers at the Aqaba terminal as soon as possible.

ASEZA Chief Commissioner Hani Mulki recently said there are some obstacles at the terminal due to the increased load beyond its capacity.

Mulki said the rise in exports and imports and the closure of land borders added to the pressure.

On Tuesday, Amman Chamber of Commerce President Issa Murad said efforts are under way to resolve the issue of delays at the terminal, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At an iftar held by the chamber, Murad said the industry and commerce chambers have urged the government to intervene and find immediate solutions to the crisis. 

He called for compensating those harmed by the delays, waiving storage fees and cancelling any additional payments imposed on exporters and importers due to the slowdown in processing cargo.

On Wednesday, Mulki asked Maersk, the company managing the port, to go back on its plan to impose $200 “congestion fees” on imported or exported containers in Aqaba as of July 15, Petra reported.

In a statement carried by the agency, he said that ACT and the Jordan Shipping Association will not offer incentives or special treatment to shipping lines that resort to imposing such fees.

Mulki said these levies increase import and export costs and negatively affect the national economy and the competitiveness of the port.