Nigerian exporters have expressed their disappointment with the Nigerian Ports Authority’s temporary suspension of export at the Lagos Ports Complex and the Tin Can Island Port for a period of two weeks.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, in a radio programme on Monday said the authority had a backlog of 600 trucks on truck access roads hence the decision to move in that direction.
Bala-Usman explained that suspension did not affect export of refrigerated cargo and trucks whose operators had secured call up tickets as of Friday, March 19, 2021.
She said, “We have a backlog of over 600 trucks that approached the ports, coming out of the truck parks and are currently in that location within the port corridors and Lilypond.
“So we are suspending all export cargoes. We have noted the challenges we have with export cargoes which resulted in this congestion.
“We found that a lot of export cargoes start approaching without documentation and this has been challenging for us in terms of readiness of the terminal operators to receive them. They also have several Customs certificates and Central Bank documents they need to complete.”
Responding to the move, the Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Export Group, Kola Awe, said exporters were not happy with how the NPA abruptly stopped export cargo movement.
Awe explained that exporters were reeling in losses following the announcement.
He said, “First of all, the major problem with the suspension is the abruptness, unexpected nature that the suspension came in. We all went home on Friday only for you to wake up on a Monday to find out that export cargoes had been suspended.
“Policies are meant to be anticipatory. If we anticipated that NPA is having problems with the e-call up system, every exporter would have made arrangement to plan. To plan in terms of warehousing, loading, plan in terms of trans-shipments and other contingencies.”
He added, “This announcement has affected us a lot. When I mean a lot, I mean trucks coming in from upcountry like Benue, Kano, and heading towards the ports. All of them are now stuck on the road. They can’t even come into the ports. Exporters that are buying goods in their warehouses have not been able to clear the goods to export. They are finding it difficult to export.
“A lot of contracts will be terminated. Penalties and claims will be made on exporters. Quality will be impacted upon. There is no way you keep goods in a container for too long, they will a reduction in the quality of the good processed for exports.”
Awe said considering the current climate the country is in, the next couple of moments would herald a new temperature that will affect the quality of the exports, noting that as it is right now, exporters are helpless.
Speaking on the losses, he said, “There is going to be losses in terms of quality, claims, penalties, breach of contract and delivery period. It is so much for us to put a figure to the loss now. I can tell you that it is going to impact negatively on exporters.”
He said the logical reason may to consider the Port Harcourt ports but worried for Lagos exporters.
