Containers stuck at Lagos ports as Easter clearing drags

Containers are stuck at Tin Can and Apapa ports in Lagos due to delays in clearing consignments during the Easter period.

The gridlock has thrown importers and exporters in disarray, with many unable to meet delivery timelines.

“What should take a few days now takes three or four weeks,” said Victor Iyama, a cocoa exporter, who has been in the export business since 1989.

“We’ve been shouting, and now we’re tired,” he told BusinessDay.

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Like many in the business, Iyama had expected Nigerian authorities to deal with the Lagos port gridlock long ago. But this is not the case as documentations and consignments continue to be delayed, raising demurrage charges for businesses.

“It’s a Nigerian problem. Every year we talk about it. Every year the same thing happens,” he said. “And we can blame nobody but ourselves.”

The Easter holiday gridlock has caused disruptions for exporters. With global prices shifting and buyers becoming more demanding, any delay can erode profits. The situation is also hitting manufacturers who brought in raw materials as they risk production and delivery delays amid slowing demand.

“We’re not shipping anything now. We try to move fast to avoid demurrage, but even that isn’t working anymore,” one exporter said.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said that Nigeria loses N6.7 trillion annually to port gridlocks.

It said in the 2018 report that Africa’s biggest economy loses N600 billion in customs revenue, $10 billion (N3.6trn) in the non-oil export sector and N2.5 trillion in corporate earnings across various sectors on an annual basis.

At Apapa port, Usman Abubakar, Customs spokesperson, confirmed the current chaos and slowdown at the Lagos ports.

“The Easter season will surely affect clearing and releasing goods at the port,” he said, noting its impact on revenue generation. “That’s billions of dollars we are talking about.”

Abubakar said the command is under pressure to meet its N18 billion daily revenue target, noting that some officers were asked to work weekends and beyond closing hours during the holiday to ease the backlog.

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Years of poor coordination

Clearing agents argue that the congestion isn’t caused by the holiday itself, but by years of poor coordination between terminal operators and shipping companies, a crack that only gets wider each time the country goes on break.

“Every holiday, we know the terminal operators continue to work and delivery still happens at Onne and full operations at Tin Can,” said Sulaiman Ayokunle, senior special assistant to Emenike Nwokeoji, president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA). “But shipping companies don’t work.”

Missing link

Ayokunle said unless consignments are released from the shipping company before the holiday, terminals have nothing to deliver.

“Even if the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is ready, if the shipping companies do not carry out fresh releases, you’re stuck.”

Perishable items

Perishable items like fish suffer decay due to the delay. Some exporters say their food products sometimes change taste or even decay before getting to their destination countries.

About 5,000 trucks seek access to Apapa and Tin Can ports in Lagos every day, though they were originally built to accommodate only 1,500 trucks daily.

The LCCI report noted that 25 percent of cashew nuts exported from Lagos to Vietnam in 2017 went bad or were downgraded owing to delays at Lagos ports.

According to Ayokunle, rent and demurrage charges accumulate despite the holiday or gridlocks in Apapa.

“They don’t wait. Nobody considers the holiday to be a waiting period,” he said.

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Unfortunately, during the break period, some Customs operations are halted. “Customs operations will only happen at the gate and enforcement. Examination will not open, except for delivery purposes,” he said, which was also confirmed by NCS’ Abubakar.

ANCLA said it is calling for a more humane approach. “Once there’s a general holiday, at least they should waive 50 percent tariff,” Ayokunle said. “Because they know definitely there is nothing one can do within the period.”