Port tariffs hiked

Djibouti port authorities plan to raise port charges by up to 150 percent next month, Ethiopia’s private sector has complained. Dubai Port International (DPI), which took over management of the Djibouti port on a 20-year lease earlier this year, said in a circular that it would increase tariff rates from 15 January, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce announced. The chamber represents the major importers and exporters in landlocked Ethiopia, Reuters said. The cost of a tonne of cargo in transit via Djibouti port would hike to US $2.50 from $1.00, said the Ethiopian chamber - and no reason had been given for the increase.

The new port tariffs had increased the cost of fuel, fertiliser and relief wheat imports by 15 percent, and imposed a 300 percent tariff on all other commercial goods, said the Ethiopian private newspaper ‘Efoyta’ on Wednesday. It said the “exorbitant increase” was being discussed between Ethiopian and Djiboutian officials.
Two thirds of Djibouti’s revenue had been collected from cargo destined for Ethiopia since Ethiopia began to use the Djibouti port three years ago, ‘Efoyta’ said. With the tariff increases, Ethiopia was likely to pay between $15 million to 20 million extra over the year, estimated the newspaper.

Ethiopia was forced to shift its imports and exports to the Djibouti port from Eritrean ports in 1997 in the build-up to the 1998 Ethiopia-Ertirea border war. Reuters said official figures showed the volume of traffic at the Djibouti port had nearly tripled to four million tonnes since Ethiopia began relying on the port. Huge volumes of relief food passed through the port in 2000 because of a food crisis in Ethiopia.