KPA slashes handling charges to attract traffic to SGR

The Kenya Ports Authority has lowered container handling charges in the latest push by the Government to improve uptake of cargo through the new Standard Gauge Railway service.

The move comes amid a row with freighters who have opposed a directive for them to use the new service as opposed to using road transport to ferry cargo from the port of Mombasa.

KPA yesterday announced it had slashed container handling charges at its internal depot at Embakasi in Nairobi by almost a third.

In a notice published in the local dailies, the ports agency said it had reduced handling fees for a 20-foot local container at the Inland Container Depot at Embakasi to $80 (Sh8,160), down from $103 (Sh10,506).

Given rebate

Earlier, the Government had set the price of transporting a 20-foot container from Mombasa to Nairobi at $500 (Sh50, 000), excluding the handling charges.

This means the total cost of moving the container from the Mombasa port using the SGR cargo service to the inland depot at Embakasi will now amount to Sh59,160 ($580).

“In order to promote the use of Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDN) by Nairobi and transit clients who wish to nominate ICDN as a point of cargo delivery, Kenya Ports Authority has given a rebate on tariffs,” said KPA in the press advertisement. Handling charges for a 40-feet container in transit to another country, on the other hand, have been slashed from $125 (Sh12, 750) to $90 (Sh9, 180).