Vietnam's seaports are open and ready to receive goods at the end of the year

(Chinhphu.vn) - Ensuring the stability of seaport operations not only helps goods maintain circulation to continue the growth momentum, but also brings advantages to associations, shippers, and import-export businesses. in the process of negotiating freight rates with shipping lines.

Vietnam's sea freight rates are currently the lowest in the region on the same route
In the context of many major ports in the world being seriously congested, leading to a galloping increase in freight rates, which significantly affects the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods, said Mr. Hoang Hong Giang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration (Ministry of Transport) said that congestion at major ports in the world causes a shortage of containers and ships to happen continuously, but the shipping line surcharges applied in Vietnam have not increased and no additional charges are incurred. new fee.
By the end of July 2021, Cat Lai port - a seaport that handles 40% of Vietnam's import and export goods - there is a phenomenon that 80% of the port area is continuously in a state of container stagnation due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Many southern localities implemented social distancing, causing businesses to stop operating, imported goods were filled with warehouses, and port space was also occupied to serve imported containers.

Recognizing the risk of congestion at seaports, the Minister of Transport directed the Vietnam Maritime Administration and specialized units, analyzed the situation, proposed handling options and reported to the Prime Minister for direction. The concerned ministries and branches shall come up with a mechanism to coordinate and focus on the urgent movement of unsold containers to ICD yards in industrial zones and clusters. After a week of drastic and synchronous implementation, the exploitation area of Cat Lai port was brought back to the safe threshold, always empty from 25-40% of the yard capacity, the risk of congestion was prevented and the reception of ships, serving import and export goods in Cat Lai stably.

“For other ports in the country, the Ministry of Transport also directs the Maritime Administration and port businesses to continuously review, inspect and develop a plan to relocate containers, strengthen links between ports in the same area and Across the country, if the risk of congestion appears at any port, the flow of import and export goods will not be interrupted. Up to now, Vietnam's seaports have not been blocked again," said Deputy Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

In addition, the Vietnam Maritime Administration also said that ensuring the stability of seaport operation not only helps import and export goods circulate stably and maintain growth, but also brings advantages to trade agreements. associations, shippers and businesses in the process of negotiating freight rates with shipping lines.

More information, Mr. Hoang Hong Giang said, thanks to the stability of the seaport, Vietnam's sea freight rates are currently the lowest in the region on the same route. For example, the freight rates on the same leg to the port of Los Angles, the freight rates charged by shipping lines from Vietnamese shippers are 500-1000 USD lower than other countries. While the world's major seaports are congested, causing a shortage of containers and ships, the shipping line surcharges applied in Vietnam have not increased and no new surcharges are incurred.

“Currently, in the same region, the scale of Vietnam's exports to the US market is second only to China. The potential market and effectively preventing the risk of congestion at seaports will attract shipping lines to open more service routes, maintain routing and routing, and help Vietnam's import and export goods escape the passive situation. In the context of "shortage of ships, scarcity of containers", maintaining the supply chain and growth momentum, contributing to the successful implementation of the "double goal" set by the Government", said Mr. Hoang Hong Giang.

According to information from the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach in California (two ports that account for 40% of container traffic into the US) are still heavily congested (from October 9 to now). A similar situation occurs at many ports in New York, Savannah, Georgia due to unusually high shipping demand. Meanwhile, the work of loading and unloading and releasing goods is lacking in both port workers and means of transport and drivers. To solve this situation, the US has implemented the "90-day sprint" plan. In 90 days, seaports, especially the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach, will work 24/7 to speed up the processing of docked containers instead of only working 5 days a week, resting in the evenings and weekends. .

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic not only has a strong impact on the performance of ports in the US, but also reduces the capacity of many other ports in China and Europe. Most recently, in August 2021, the port of Ningbo Zhoushan (Zhejiang, China) - the third busiest container port in the world - was partially closed when it was discovered that port workers were infected with the mutated SARS-CoV-2 virus. Delta. Previously, in May 2021, Yantian port (Shenzhen, China), also had to close for nearly a month when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, causing a large amount of goods on Asia-North America routes to be heavily congested. day.

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