Port of NY and NJ to Charge 'Container Imbalance Fee'

On Aug. 2 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that it will impose a new container imbalance fee on liner companies.

According to the announcement, the fee will be assessed quarterly, and during the assessment period, the liner's outbound container volume must equal or exceed 110 percent of the inbound container volume, and if it fails to meet this standard, a container imbalance fee of $100 per container will be levied. Inbound and outbound containers include heavy and empty containers, but do not include rail volume.

The fee is intended to reduce the number of excess empty containers at the port and free up storage space for the large number of imported heavy containers. The fee will be used to offset the cost of providing additional storage space at the port, as well as other costs incurred by excess empty containers. The fees are scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2022.

The Port Authority of the Port of New York-New Jersey, the No. 1 port on the U.S. East Coast, said the imposition of the container imbalance fee is a response to record cargo volumes.

So far, the Port of New York-New Jersey has handled nearly 12 percent more cargo year-over-year this year, a jump of about 34 percent compared with the same period in 2019 before the outbreak, the data show. The sharp rise in cargo volumes is largely due to the peak cargo season and the transfer of some cargo from U.S. West ports to U.S. East ports.

Kevin O 'Toole, chairman of the Port Authority of the Port of New York-New Jersey, said, "We are handling record cargo volumes and want to work with our port stakeholders to dispose of empty containers in a timely manner. We are calling on all parties up and down the supply chain to work together to find sustainable solutions to this problem facing U.S. ports in general."

The Port Authority of New York-New Jersey has now published the details of the fee on its website and is conducting a 30-day comment period. In the meantime, the fee will be reassessed after the global supply chain crisis has abated.