A shipment of copper cathodes that has been delayed for two weeks at the port. A freight contract with only “paper” protection. A final cost running into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Cases like this are common in the mining industry, and the discussion tends to focus—and rightly so—on the contract: Was the demurrage cap a fixed amount or a formula that gets diluted amid congestion? Did the force majeure clause explicitly mention port congestion? Did the forwarder have anything at stake, or was it just the shipper?

Those are good questions. But they only solve half the problem.

The Scale of the Problem

Mining logistics drives a significant market, although its exact size varies depending on what is included in the definition: market estimates place the pure transportation segment between US$29,000 and US$76,000 million by 2030, while broader definitions (which include storage and value-added services) put it at US$140,000 million in 2024 and project US$210,000 million for 2033. Under either scenario, an inefficiency of just 1% in the supply chain represents hundreds of millions of dollars a year in avoidable costs (and demurrage is one of the most visible and least managed components of that inefficiency).

Furthermore, global demurrage and detention charges are not easing: they rose between 8% and 12% year-over-year in 2025, driven by port congestion and contracts that were not designed to handle the current volatility in transportation. Global demurrage and detention charges for container operations rose by nearly 8% year-over-year in 2025, driven by port congestion and contracts that were poorly aligned with operations.

Why free time doesn't offer the same protection as it used to

The standard free time in port—the period before demurrage begins to accrue—is typically only 5 to 7 days. This timeframe is designed for normal operating conditions. The problem is that conditions are no longer normal: given the current global volatility in transportation,dwell times at congested terminals easily exceed that limit, and demurrage charges are triggered almost automatically, without any particular party being at fault. It is, quite literally, a mechanism designed for a world that no longer exists with the same level of predictability.

The Physical Detail Few Consider: The Case of Copper

In the specific case of copper cathodes, there is a technical factor that is rarely mentioned outside the industry: they are transported without packaging, in bundles secured only with metal (steel) straps. These straps can come loose or break due to friction caused by handling and long-distance transport from the mine to the port, resulting in visual nonconformities. It is also common for a weighing scale to be out of calibration, which can result in a real and documented difference between the weight shipped at the origin and the weight verified at the destination.

That discrepancy is neither fraud nor anyone’s mistake: it stems from the physical handling of a product in batches or in bulk. But at a port or customs checkpoint, this is exactly the kind of detail that leads to detention, additional inspection, and disputes (and every day that dispute lasts, demurrage accumulates). If the weight and condition of the cathode were not validated through checks and recorded with traceability at the plant, that dispute takes place with less information than the shipper should have, and almost always in favor of the terminal.

Two causes, two different solutions

The legal and contractual issues —ambiguous cap clauses, generic force majeure provisions, and forwarders with no incentive to act quickly on the ground—can be resolved through better contract drafting and negotiation. This is not our area of expertise, and we do not claim that it is.

Operational and documentation issues —weighing not validated in a timely manner at the plant, shipping documents issued late, product quality without clear certification upon arrival, the port learning of the shipment only after the truck or train is already in the yard (this is indeed a traceability issue). And that is where we have been working for more than 13 years alongside the mining industry.

What does “having the load ready” mean in practice?

In our experience managing the traceability of mining products from the plant to their destination, the difference between a smooth shipment and one that ends in a dispute almost always comes down to the same thing: Did the information arrive before the product?

• Weighing is validated digitally at the plant; it is not later reconstructed using spreadsheets.
• The shipping guide is generated automatically, without the need for re-entry.
• The physical and chemical characteristics of the product are recorded and made available prior to arrival.
• The destination—port, customer, warehouse—receives the shipment information in real time, not after the truck has already arrived.

None of these points replaces a good cap clause. But they eliminate many of the reasons why that clause ends up being triggered.

The Right Starting Point

If your exposure to demurrage is due to weak contract clauses, you need a good trade finance attorney. If your cargo is never actually ready—weighed, certified, documented, and visible—when the carrier or the port needs it, that’s an operational traceability issue. And we can definitely help you resolve that.

In fact, this is exactly the challenge that led us to create Antara CT — Control Tower: a platform that centralizes the complete logistics traceability of a mining operation—including both critical inputs and finished products—online in a single view. Not a dashboard that displays data from other systems, but a control tower fed by information validated at its source, so that when the port, the customer, or the carrier inquires about the status of a shipment, the answer is already ready before the question turns into a problem.

Sources

• Alkagesta (2026). Rising Demurrage Risk Amid Route Disruptions and Port Congestion.
• FreightAmigo (2025). Demurrage Explained: Understanding Costs, Causes, and Prevention.
• Cargo Handbook. Copper Cathodes — Handling and Transport Characteristics.
• Grand View Research (2024). Mining Logistics Market Size & Share Report, 2024–2030.
• Verified Market Reports (2025). Mining Logistics Market Size, Trends, and Forecast through 2033.
  

Written by Patricio Rojas Ábalos, Co-Founder & CEO of Antara.