Mindanao traders bewail excessive freight charges

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Mindanao business leaders are complaining about what they describe as excessive freight charges, which they claim are killing the export industry.

The excessive freight rates will be one of the topics discussed in next week’s Mindanao Business Agenda of the CEO-CFO Conference, according to Edgar Lim, president of the Industrial Group of Zamboanga.

"Freight costs are unreasonable for exporters in Mindanao," Lim said in a statement.

Despite the deregulation of the domestic shipping industry, the number of trips has gone down because of lack of competition among companies due to the high shipping charges.

Business leaders have observed that the commercial freight rate for class A cargo using a 20-footer container from Zamboanga to Manila is quoted at $865 or P45,000, while the same cargo shipped from Manila to Hong Kong — the same distance as Zamboanga to Manila — is quoted at only $354 or P18,408.

Filipino exporters pay three times more than foreign shipping companies in freight costs, according to local businessmen.

Lim believes that there will be greater competition between foreign and domestic companies if commercial ports like Zamboanga are allowed to accept foreign shipping operators to carry domestic cargo.

Businessmen from Zamboanga and neighboring regions are attending the CEO-CFO Conference on June 9 to discuss problems — and present solutions — hounding businesses, particularly in Mindanao.

The conference will also allow businessmen to share innovative ideas on how to make the region more competitive.