Honduras: Rates and Inefficiency of Puerto Cortés Criticized

The cost and time to transport containers at the terminal are not competitive with other ports in Central America.

Friday, January 22, 2016

While moving a container in Puerto Cortés costs about $2,308, other ports in the region charge more competitive rates, such as Manzanillo, Panama ($665), Quetzal, Guatemala ($977), Limon, Costa Rica ($1,020), Acajutla , El Salvador ($1,040), Corinto, Nicaragua ($1,140), and Santo Tomas, Guatemala ($1,450).

The hassle of importing is felt more keenly with the 3% rise in rates applied in January. In March there will be a further increase of 1%. "... It is true, before proceedings in Puerto Cortes were semi-manual, and it was cheaper and more efficient. Now we have an operator who supposedly has the know-how of the business and costs and timeframes have gone up," said Jose Raul Lopez, president of the National Federation of Customs Brokers of Honduras (Fenaduanah ) to Laprensa.hn .

"... Currently unloading a container takes between 14 and 15 days. There are problems of congestion and with every day a container is held up there is an extra cost and that leaves the final consumer worse off. Increases must be consistent with efficiency," insisted Maria Antonia Rivera, director of the Competitiveness Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Cortés (CCIC) when talking to La Prensa.com .

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