Shippers out of Cameroon’s largest port are reporting nearly month-long delays, and at least one container line has said it will begin imposing emergency congestion surcharges.
Douala, on the southeast bank of the Wouri River, is the main port in Cameroon for goods into and out of the oil, cocoa and timber-rich country. It also serves as primary point of entry for its landlocked neighbors Central African Republic and Chad.
But sectarian violence in Central African Republic has closed many of that country’s gateways, and as a result imports have begun to build up at Douala, clogging the waterfront and leaving Cameroon officials with little recourse.
There were 10 container vessels at the Douala port Tuesday morning and 14 bulk carriers, according to JOC trade analyst Keith Bucco.
According to a Reuters report, cocoa exports out of Douala have slowed sharply. The crisis at Douala International Terminal has deprived the cocoa industry of around 400,000,000 CFA francs, or $653,595, in revenue this year alone, the news agency quoted Omer Gatien Maledy, executive secretary of the Inter-professional Cocoa and Coffee Board.
Cameroon is the sixth-largest cocoa grower in the world and produced roughly 210,000 metric tons of beans in the 2013-2014 season.
The office of Prime Minister Philémon Yang has established a priority corridor for cocoa at the port and this year more than 50,000 tonnes of cocoa have been exported, Maledy said. But, in turn, the cost of customs practically doubled, so many economic operators began delaying shipments, Reuters reported.
Another reason behind the latest congestion: a buildup of Cameroonian timber still due to be exported, a senior port official told Reuters.
Workers and exporters trying to clear their goods at the port have said there are so many containers, both delayed exports leaving Cameroon and stalled imports bound for Central African Republic, it can take nearly 90 days to clear shipments.
French container line CMA CGM Tuesday was reporting delays as long as 30 days.
“The situation in Douala unfortunately continues to deteriorate severely,” the Marseille-based outfit said in an advisory.
The company said it plans to impose emergency congestion surcharges effective May 1 for routes between Cameroon and Europe, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, North America and West Africa.
CMA CGM did not give an amount for the looming surcharge. Last July, during another congestion spike, the company imposed an emergency port congestion surcharge of $300 per 20-foot-equivalent unit on routes from South America to Cameroon.
There is a second port under development to help relieve congestion at Douala about 120 miles further south in the town of Kribi, but that facility is still not operational. Since there is no natural harbor at Kribi, crews have have been working for the past 3 1/2 years to construct a port several miles offshore where the water is deep enough to handle the large Capesize ships that are expected to call there. The port complex was expected to be completed last year.
