Importers: Late fees on shipments stuck in customs are too expensive for us to collect goods

Importers: Late fees on shipments stuck in customs are too expensive for us to collect goods

Around US$2.5 billion worth of imported goods were still stuck in the ports on Wednesday, a government official told the press, weeks after an influx of dollar liquidity into the country. Five traders describing the situation to Mada Masr said that newly available liquidity has allowed them to ensure the import cost of the goods is paid. But now, they can’t afford to collect the shipments because of additional costs […]

The post Importers: Late fees on shipments stuck in customs are too expensive for us to collect goods first appeared on Mada Masr.Around US$2.5 billion worth of imported goods were still stuck in the ports on Wednesday, a government official told the press, weeks after an influx of dollar liquidity into the country.

Five traders describing the situation to Mada Masr said that newly available liquidity has allowed them to ensure the import cost of the goods is paid. But now, they can’t afford to collect the shipments because of additional costs that have accrued while the shipments were stuck in customs for months. 

At least US$20 billion worth of goods were in limbo at customs in January. Insufficient foreign currency liquidity in Egypt’s banks left traders unable to secure credit lines