Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) have made us aware that there has been a notice issued by a treatment provider in the Port of Singapore Free Trade area that they will be not be taking any future bookings for treatment with Methyl Bromide (MB).
The Department of Agriculture have advised that they too had heard the same commentary however did not have any additional information at this time.
With further investigation, and discussions with FTA members, it would appear that the issue is that Singapore appears to be running out of Methyl Bromide (MB) gas due to the volume of transit container cargoes requiring treatment / re-treatment at Singapore. FTA understand there is only one main distributor in Singapore for Methyl Bromide (MB) gas and usage was so fast that they are having issues with re-stocking. It appears that re-stocking may not recover until the end of March 2020.
Since the initial notice the treatment provider has now resorted to rationing their remaining stock and are in discussions with the MB supplier to work on alternatives.
They had offered to use Phosphine as the alternative treatment to Methyl Bromide however this is not currently an accepted treatment by the Department of Agriculture.
FTA will continue to monitor events and advise as any updates come to hand.
We will contact you directly should your shipment be affected.
