Egypt’s Navigation Lines Agencies held an emergency negotiating session to discuss the decision of “CMA CGM” company in Egypt to collect Terminal Handling Charges in hard currency instead of Egyptian pound from their importers and exporters clients.
A source in the navigation chamber in Alexandria said that the company used to pay terminal handling charges in hard currency despite collecting them from their clients in Egyptian pounds to facilitate the process for the clients.
However, the company has announced that due to the difficulties they face in hard currency, it stated that it will be collecting import and export Terminal Handling Charges in foreign currency starting from July 23, 2016.
CMA CGM Egypt is specialized in transporting goods between ports, which operates across 8 naval transportation lines for vessels that it owns or rents to ship general merchandise between Egypt and Europe, the United States, West Africa, and the Indian Ocean Islands, the Middle East, and Asia.” The company has 5 branches that spread throughout Egypt.
The Dollar has witnessed an unprecedented increase in Egypt’s black market recently. According to local reports, the dollar selling price ranged between 12.50 and 12.60 Egyptian pounds while its purchase price was around 12.30 pounds.
The Egyptian economy suffers from a severe dollar shortage due to the withdrawal of the Tourism sector and foreign investment. Moreover, many currency dealers store the dollars waiting for its price to increase to gain profits. As a result, Egypt’s black market witnesses a withdrawal from dollars’ holders in selling the hard currency with the continuous increase in the dollar price. As a result, the price of dollars hiked more due to its shortage in the market.
