Africa-Press – Liberia. Rice, Liberia’s most essential staple commodity, is at the center of a quiet but powerful shift at the Freeport of Monrovia. The way rice moves through the port is changing, and the effects could reshape everything from vessel waiting time to what families pay in the market. APM Terminals has introduced a bold shift in how rice is handled at the port, which will replace the outdated discharge practices with faster, more efficient methods that heavily cut handling costs, free up quay space, and tackle the demurrage that has long inflated rice logistics bills. This transformation is not about theory. It is about changing the speed, scale, and method of rice movement at the port, and the real-world numbers already show the difference.
Handling Charges Slashed
Effective 1 February 2026, rice discharge rates were reduced by more than 33% at the Freeport of Monrovia. If rice comes in pre-slung from the port of origin, the rice handling discharge rate, which was 15 US dollars per metric ton, now costs 10 US dollars per metric ton. On a single vessel carrying about 50,000 tons of rice, that means roughly 250,000 US dollars stays with the importer instead of being paid in handling charges. This is a real relief inside the supply chain.
The Game-Changer: Pre-Slung Rice
The biggest shift here is pre-slinging. Instead of moving fewer 25 kg bags one at a time, rice is prepared in jumbo bundles at the port of origin. Each jumbo bundle holds about one hundred bags. When the vessel arrives in Monrovia, cranes lift several bundles at once. This means fewer lifts, less weather interruption, less labour fatigue, and far faster turnaround. Operational data shows discharge speed rising by 70% to 80%. Time spent at berth is cut by more than half. This is not a small improvement; it is a structural change in how rice moves through the port. Pre-slinging mitigates weather-related delays, and more cargo is discharged during favourable weather windows.
Demurrage: The Cost That Was Crushing Rice
Demurrage has been a seldom-mentioned but the most ravaging cost in Liberia’s rice supply chain. Demurrage is the penalty paid to ship owners when vessels stay longer than agreed, to improve faster vessel turnaround and reduce congestion. It does not go to APM Terminals but heavily increases the final cost of rice on local markets. In 2025 alone, rice vessels waited an average of 18 days offshore. They stayed around 48 days at berth, and demurrage charges averaged 20,000 to 25,000 US dollars per day. Every extra day added thousands of dollars to the cost of a single shipment. Those costs eventually reach the market. By speeding up discharge by up to 80%, pre-slinging attacks demurrage directly. Less time at berth means less demurrage. Less demurrage means less pressure on rice prices for consumers.
Quay Space Finally Freed
Quay space at the Freeport is limited. When a rice vessel sits for months, other ships wait. Cutting discharge time by more than half improves berth availability for all vessels, reduces vessel queue, and eases up congestion. Vessel schedules also become more predictable. This is how a port improves without building a new berth.
What This Means For Liberians
Rice prices are influenced by global markets, but for years, weather-related port delays have been one of the strongest local drivers of cost. Now, handling charges are down by more than one-third, discharge speed is up by 70% to 80%, berth time is cut by more than half, and demurrage exposure drops sharply. The total cost of importing rice is expected to fall significantly. As those savings move through the supply chain, rice is expected to become more affordable in markets across Liberia. This shift is not cosmetic; it is structural. A slow, costly system that drained hundreds of thousands of dollars per vessel is being replaced with a faster, cleaner, more predictable system built around efficiency and cost control. For a country where rice is survival, this change arrives at the right moment.
A National Push For Efficiency
In 2025, the Government of Liberia suspended import tariffs on rice, removing a tax normally paid when rice enters the country. This lowers the price in Liberia, but it does not affect sea-related charges like demurrage or terminal handling cost, which are driven by how long vessels wait and how quickly rice is discharged at the port. The current improvements at the Freeport of Monrovia support this national effort by tackling a different set of costs. Reduced handling charges and incentives introduced by APM Terminals focus on weather delays that previously added heavy expenses through long vessel stays and demurrage. As policy discussions progress through the National Port Authority with support from the Rice Committee around adopting pre-slung jumbo bags and containerised rice movement across all Liberian ports, these approaches work together. One lowers the tax burden at the import stage, while the other reduces costs linked to slow vessel handling. Combined, they create a more efficient and predictable supply chain, giving rice a stronger chance of reaching markets at a more stable and affordable price.
How Industry-Wide Adoption Can Strengthen The Economy
For many years, the older method of discharging rice continued simply because it was a familiar approach, and there was no clear structure guiding a better alternative. Weather disruptions, labour intensity, and long vessel stay became accepted as normal, even though they added heavy costs across the chain. The introduction of modern handling methods by APM Terminals shows a practical way forward. With the benefits of pre-slung jumbo bags and containerised rice now clearer, a more efficient national approach to rice handling has been proposed. Wider adoption of these methods by importers, supported by emerging Government policy discussions, can help create a faster and more predictable system. When the entire industry aligns with this improved method, vessel flow improves, delays reduce and most importantly, the cost burden on Liberian households becomes lighter.
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