Shippers fear losses over cargo pile-up at port

Cargo scanners at the Port of Mombasa have broken down, leading to a pile-up of goods meant for export.

Tea traders, whose business accounts for over 20 per cent of exported products through the port, said they have not been able to ship out the product for the last four days due to the mishap.

“We have not been able to export tea for the second day now. We were informed that the scanners broke down and efforts were being made to get the spare parts. It’s a big loss,” said Peter Kimanga, Director at Global Tea and Commodities.

Wednesday, The Standard established that over 200 containers of tea destined for the export market were yet to be moved after scanners operated by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at the port broke down last Saturday.

Last evening, KRA Southern Region Manager George Muia admitted the scanner broke down “two or three days ago” and that some containers were held at the port.

He did not specify the number of affected containers but added that KRA had come up with a work plan that would involve stripping the containers to stem total collapse of operations.

He described the breakdown as a technical problem and said the authority was working around the clock to solve it. He said he had scheduled a meeting with tea traders today to discuss the problem and a new directive that requires all containers carrying tea to be scanned.

Statistics from East Africa Tea Trade Association (EATTA) indicate that last week, over five million kilogrammes of tea was traded at the Mombasa Auction. Over 90 per cent of the tea was for the export market.

The association’s MD Edward Mudibo said tea prices had improved from where they were at the beginning of the year, following a drop in traded volumes.

He said the volumes were, however, expected to go up due to the long rains and added that delayed exports would worsen the situation.

“There is a crisis but the 100 per cent scanning is important because the security of the country is paramount. I’ve received a letter from EATTA Managing Director (Edward Mudibo) and we will hold a meeting tomorrow over the issue,” said Muia.

Kimanga said tea traders export 50 containers through the port on a daily basis and expressed fears that the delay would affect prices at the action.

Auction prices

The traders said delayed shipment of tea, which is the country’s leading foreign exchange earner, could adversely affect prices at the auction and farmers’ earnings.

“We expect the production of tea to go up in the coming weeks following the onset of the May/April long rains. We wanted to clear the volumes we have to avert a glut at the auction, which would lead to a drop in prices,” said Kimanga while expressing fears some buyers may cancel their orders due to the delays.

KRA scans all containers being shipped out of the country to ensure contents tally with what exporters have declared. Tea exports were exempted from the process until a fortnight ago when a container from Mombasa marked ‘tea leaves’ containing ivory was impounded in Thailand.