Melbourne port charges to increase

31 May Melbourne port charges to increase

New Melbourne Port Licence Fee

In December 2011 the Victorian Government introduced the Melbourne Port Licence Fee (PLF) Bill 2011 into Parliament.

The introduction of this Bill followed a media release issued by the Government which stated that the previous Government announcement of a Freight Infrastructure Charge would be replaced by a Licence Fee to be applied to Port of Melbourne Corporation.

The Bill proposed that Port of Melbourne Corporation be required to pay an annual Port Licence Fee to the Victorian Government at a starting rate in 2012-13 of $75 million increasing annually by the Consumer Price Index in subsequent years.

The Port of Melbourne management yesterday announced its Reference Tariff Schedule for fees to apply from July 1, with the new schedule to include the Port Licence Fee.

Under the new tariff schedule, wharfage fees for a loaded twenty-foot container will increase by $21.10 (52.6%) to $61.20 plus GST and wharfage fees for a loaded forty-foot container increase by $42.20 (52.6%) to $122.40 plus GST. Motor vehicle fees will increase by an average of $12.48 (52.7%) per motor vehicle to $36.14 plus GST.

Approximately 33% of each rate will relate to the recovery of the Port Licence Fee.

These tariff increases for 2012-13 reflect the cost impacts of the PLF on Port of Melbourne Corporation’s operating costs and include a standard increase of 3%. The latter they advise will be used to ensure the future funding of port infrastructure development to accommodate trade growth and supply chain efficiencies.

As a result of this increase all shipping lines will be reviewing and updating their own import and export schedules. Shipping line schedules do vary but it is expected that increase will generally reflect those increases passed on by the Port of Melbourne.

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