Chilean port legislation could slash productivity
The law, currently going through parliament, proposes a synchronisation of rest periods at all national ports. TPS wants these agreements to be made individually and based on the needs of each facility.
Mr Schiaffino claims this could have a $4bn impact on Chile's economy due to lost working time.
The law could also cut income by around 46%, he claims, amounting to approximately $62.4m per year for terminal operators. This will come about from changes to the economic contribution tax paid by companies, which is levied on per ton of cargo handled, although regarded by most as an additional tax.
Previously, this was levied at a standard rate of $0.30 per ton of freight, but would be lowered to $0.20 per ton of general cargo and $0.10 per ton of dry or liquid bulk. Were this to become law, this would see revenue raised by this ‘tax’ in 2015-2018 drop to $15.6m per year based on annual volumes of 120m tons.
Source: www.portstrategy.com