Rice importers have decried the high demurrage fees charged by APM Terminal, especially during the eight-month rainy season, as a major challenge to ensuring that the price of rice is stabilized at the government-stipulated price of US$14.00.
APM Terminal is said to be charging US$14.00 per ton of rice, and it causes more during the rainy season, due to protracted delay in the offloading and stevedoring services of rice, an Importer said.
In a random chat with several rice importers, they said high demurrage fees by APM Terminal, especially during the rainy season, are critical to determining the price of rice sold on the Liberian market.
Before the APM Terminal takeover of the Freeport of Monrovia, rice importers were paying less than US$8.00 as demurrage fees per ton of rice to the National Port Authority, a rice importer who preferred anonymity said.
APM Terminal officials declined to comment, when our Reporters attempted to contact them.
Importers said currently there is surplus rice in the country to last for nearly a year, and due to the high competition, rice was being sold for US$14.00, before the government pronouncement.
However, importers noted that while competition to a larger extent caused the drop in the price of rice, distributors and other agents involved in the marketing and sales of rice are unlikely to sell at the same price of $14.00 to consumers.
The price of a 25 kg bag of rice varies. In Monrovia, shop owners are selling at US$15.00, while in the suburbs, due to the exchange rates, there’s not much price change, according to consumers.
There are an estimated seven major Rice importers, mostly Lebanese, with Fulanis dominating the distribution chain and fewer Liberians as retailers nationwide.
