BIMCO | What are Storage Fees? How to calculate it?

Storage Fees per BIMCO

The storage fees are paid by the user, in cases whereby the user did not fulfill the accepted agreement and is meant to compensate the container supplier accordingly. In case all containers are picked up as per the agreement, there will not be any storage fees.

• My leasing deal is under the Standard Container Leasing Agreement, is this the right article?  No, please refer to SCLA | When are Storage fees applicable in a Leasing Deal?

When are storage fees applicable? 

1. If a Leasing Deal is cancelled by the user after it has been accepted, and the containers have been released. For example:

• The Storage Fee Agreed Upon in the Leasing Deal is 2 USD.
• The deal included a total of 10 containers.
• The release was provided by the supplier 20 days ago.

The user then decides that he does not need the containers anymore. That means the transaction is closed and the user is charged the below amount, which is then directly credited to the supplier.

10 Containers x 20 Days x 2 USD storage fee = 400 USD 

2. If only a portion of the total agreed amount of containers is being picked up and the user informs the supplier that the remaining quantity will not be picked up.
For Example: 

• The Storage Fee Agreed Upon in the deal is 2 USD.
• The deal included a total of 10 containers.
• The release was given 20 days ago.
• Only 5 of the 10 agreed containers are picked up.

Now the container user decides that he does not need the remaining 5 containers anymore. That means the transaction is moved to the "Dropoff" stage with only 5 units being picked up and the user is charged with the below amount, which is then directly credited to the Supplier.

5 Containers x 20 Days x 2 USD storage fee = 200 USD

3. If the release expires, the user only picked up one (or none) of the agreed containers, and the supplier does not want to extend the release or wait anymore, the supplier can then cancel the units and charge the user the agreed storage fees. For Example:

• The Storage Fee Agreed Upon in the Deal is 2 USD.
• The Deal included a total of 10 containers.
• The release was given with a validity of 14 days and now expired 20 days ago.
• Only 5 of the 10 agreed containers were picked up.

Now the container supplier decides that he does not want to extend the release and wait any longer for the user to pick up the remaining 5 containers.

That means the transaction is moved to the "Dropoff" stage with only 5 units being picked up and the user is charged with the below calculation, and it's directly credited to the container supplier.

5 Containers x (20+14) 34 Days x 2 USD storage fee = 340 USD

In this case, please tag @Support in the deal chat and let us know that you want to close the deal. We will then process it and the storage fees will be adjusted accordingly.

How can I avoid storage fees?

• Pick up all the containers you agreed on.
• Only accept container quantities you can actually utilize. If you are unsure if you can utilize the whole container quantity, make sure to adjust the terms to the real amount of containers you will lease.
• Only accept a deal if you are sure you can pick up the containers in the next 2-3 weeks (or per release validity)