The Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) has announced six demurrage-free days from the date of de-stuffing of Lose Container Load (LCL) containers.
The QICT chief executive officer, in a fax to the Pak-Afghan Traders Group, has said the storage charges are waived on case-to-case basis in case of CY containers.
Most Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) cargo is being delivered loose. To facilitate the ATT consignees, the QICT gives six-day free time from the date of the de-stuffing.
The QICT has made arrangements to dedicate its whole shed to the ATT cargo, which would increase the space by 100 percent. Both the shed and the rail sidings are within the terminal's premises at a distance of about 600 metres.
To accommodate the consignees' cartage and labour costs, the QICT has reduced their charges by Rs 1,000 per container.
The QICT has already arranged to accommodate 50 closed wagons and 35 wagons for the containers at one time to facilitate the ATT cargo loading onto the wagons, the QICT CEO said.
He also said all requests, received from the consignees, were based on prior allocation of wagons by railways, and were being accommodated without any delay.
Responding to complaints of the delay in handling of import and export cargoes, he said the management had increased equipment to handle the increased volume of cargoes, and hoped to procure two new Quay cranes and five rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes by the end of this year or the first quarter of 2005.
Additionally, two reach stackers and two MTY handlers for fast turnaround of the import units had also been arranged, he added.