Large, small Guyanese businesses affected due to T&T port delays – GMSA President

– warns of impact ahead of holiday seasons

Ongoing port congestion and shipping delays in Trinidad and Tobago have affected the timely movement of goods to and from Guyana, causing disruptions to both large and small businesses here, with even more dire consequences as the holiday season approaches. In a statement on Thursday evening, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) expressed concerns about shipment delays as a result of major congestion at the shipping port in Trinidad and Tobago’s capital, Port of Spain. According to the GMSA, these challenges at the Port of Port of Spain have disrupted supply chains, creating delays in the importation of key raw materials. It noted that for many local manufacturers and traders, these delays translate into higher costs, production slowdowns, and loss of revenues.

Speaking to the Guyana Times on Friday, the President of GMSA, Rafeek Khan, explained that both large and small manufacturers are being affected by the shipping delays, which have persisted for several months now and are causing a ripple effect in the costs of operations locally. “We are having issues with manufacturing inputs because raw materials are being held up in Trinidad, affecting manufacturing for almost every scale of operations. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making pepper sauce, beverages, or butter; we have to import certain ingredients for the manufacturing process. And companies, as you can imagine, when they run out of their raw material, have to stop their factories … So, we’re trying to find out what’s causing this [delay],” he noted. Some authorities in Trinidad have cited issues such as massive congestion at the port, with many empty containers there; priority being given to other regional destinations over Guyana that are more lucrative; and the increase of larger vessels carrying larger volumes of cargo as possible reasons behind the hold on Guyana’s shipments. To this end, the GMSA Head indicated that they are looking to engage the Trinidadian Port Authorities. He has also called on the Trinidadian Government to resolve the issue.
According to Khan, “We are hoping that maybe the Trinidadian Government does something about it… This is just the first step of frustration for our members. They’ve asked us to issue a statement and are hoping for some resolution, but it’s beyond our control in Guyana. This is really seeking guidance now from the port authorities in Trinidad. So, the next step [if that fails] is that we may engage the Prime Minister [of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar] for interactions and interventions.” The GMSA President went on to point out that there is no issue on Guyana’s end. He said, “It’s beyond our control. Remember, shipping lines control these things. There’s no problem with our importing clearance here. Absolutely none. Everything is quite okay here. I think this is beyond Guyana. This has to do with congestion and high demand in the region.” Meanwhile, the GMSA, in Thursday’s missive, underscored the urgency of restoring normal shipping operations, especially as Guyana prepares for the upcoming holiday season – a period of heightened commercial activity and consumer demand. “The uninterrupted flow of goods is critical to ensuring product availability, price stability, and business continuity across multiple sectors. Strong, reliable regional logistics remain essential to the success of Guyana’s growing manufacturing sector and to enabling our manufacturers to be competitive. The GMSA, therefore, calls for a timely and coordinated resolution to the situation and reaffirms its commitment to national development,” it posited.

Back in August, the Port of Port of Spain, the country’s main port facility, was listed by shipping lines as the slowest port in the entire Caribbean. This, according to reports coming out of the Twin Island Republic, was due to the inefficiency of cargo and customs operations that have seen a backlog of vessels outside the port for as long as two weeks, far beyond their scheduled docking dates. Khan outlined that the situation is causing much unease among local manufacturers and importers, especially ahead of the upcoming holiday season. “Companies are very concerned that leading up to Christmas, it’s going to become worse, which will cause shortages in the market for certain products if we don’t have ample supply of raw materials … It’s a compounding effect because of the holiday season, and there’s a growing demand for imports due to Guyana’s natural growth. We have so much going on in the building and construction and oil and gas sectors that naturally we have had significant demand for products we don’t produce in Guyana,” he noted. The GMSA President further stated that they also represent most, if not all, of the major manufacturers in the country within the agro-processing and food and beverage industries, which are facing significant impacts from these delays. He posited, “Remember, just-in-time production in a facility that’s manufacturing food and beverages requires raw materials that aren’t easily stored for a long time. So, the construction sector, for example, could phase their delivery. But it’s more sensitive when you’re dealing with the production of food and beverages… So, many of our members in the food and beverage manufacturing process are being affected…causing financial losses to them because, remember, their limited supply is going to cause them to slow down their production, which will increase their overhead costs.” (G-8)