Off Dock Vehicular Terminal Laments On Low Import Of Vehicles

Clarion Bonded Terminal Limited, Nigeria foremost vehicle terminal operator is lamenting what it called dwindling patronage  at its off dock facilities.
The management of the company has said that transfer of vehicles from the Tin Can Island port to the off dock terminal for the first quarter of 2011 cannot be compared to that of the first quarter of this year.

Clarion Bonded Terminal Limited, Nigeria foremost vehicle terminal operator is lamenting what it called dwindling patronage  at its off dock facilities.
The management of the company has said that transfer of vehicles from the Tin Can Island port to the off dock terminal for the first quarter of 2011 cannot be compared to that of the first quarter of this year.
General Manager, Operation  ,of the terminal ,Chief Frank Okocha told Shipping Position Daily last week in Lagos  that transfer of imported vehicles to the terminal in  2011 was better that what it  has experienced  so far this year.
Okocha however expressed optimism that the second quarter/first half of 2012 will be better pointing out that the customs ‘single window’ policy will boost international trade.
‘’Some of the challenges that we have in the first quarter of the year is that transfer of vehicles from the port to our terminal was not encouraging and it is not good for the nature of our business’’.
‘’The importation of vehicles into the country is gradually   picking up for this year and I know that before June. it will grow immensely ‘’,he prayed.
‘’I want to believe that the single window initiative by the Nigeria Customs Service will yield international trade and with that import will increase ,more vehicles  will come into the country which therefore indicates that influx of vehicles will as well increase’’.
According to him, the terminal has so far handled less than 4,000 units this year, which is low unlike what we recorded for last year.
Although our correspondent could not obtain a breakdown of vehicles handled for the first quarter of the year at terminal as at press time, but records for the first quarter of 2011 showed that a total of 4,606 units of vehicles made it to Clarion Bonded Terminal.
The document from the company revealed that in January 2011, alone, the terminal recorded a total of 3,205 units of vehicles which was also the highest units of vehicles that was transferred to the terminal, while in the month of February, only 259 units were handled by  the terminal. The last month of the quarter, March saw 1,142 units of vehicles.