Port of Alaska cargo surcharge rises to $22.76 a ton on Jan. 1

Cargo crossing the dock at the Don Young Port of Alaska will carry a surcharge of $22.76 per ton starting Jan. 1, 2027, up from $8.05 today. The Anchorage Assembly approved the new rate in April under Tariff 10.3, part of AO 2026-57. The surcharge rises again to $24.63 per ton on Jan. 1, 2028.

The charge reaches goods for 90% of Alaska's population. Municipal estimates from the Public Finance Division and Masterson Advisors put the impact on a 5,000-pound pickup truck at $56.90 next year, up from about $20 now. A gallon of milk would rise about 10 cents, and a bundle of architectural shingles about 80 cents. Cement climbs to $2.20 per ton and petroleum to 40 cents per barrel on the same schedule. The Plan of Finance cautions that those figures assume carriers such as Matson or TOTE pass the full charge to shippers, and shippers to customers, and calls them likely higher end estimates.

The surcharge funds debt service on Port revenue bonds. New Cargo Terminals 1 and 2 are estimated at $2,026,609,001, one of the largest public works projects in state history. That is more than double the roughly $947 million the municipality's first Plan of Finance projected in 2020, when debt was capped at $800 million and the rest was expected to come from grants. Construction on Terminal 1 began March 16, 2026. The Assembly has authorized up to $1,755,640,000 in debt, and bonds sold in July 2026 drive the 2027 rate. Peak construction is expected to employ about 300 Alaskan workers.

Two other funding sources arrived this year: a $191.3 million MARAD lawsuit settlement announced July 7 and $25 million in state capital funding, $10 million of it contingent on oil prices through Dec. 31, 2026. The municipality expects the settlement proceeds by the first quarter of 2027. "Securing these funds for the Port of Alaska means we are able to reduce the costs of goods for all Alaskans," Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said in July. The proceeds cannot be substituted for revenues already pledged to the 2026 bonds, so they instead cancel a bond sale planned for July 2027. Without them, the plan says, the 2028 cargo rate would have reached roughly $31.53 per ton rather than $24.63.

The uniform surcharge design has drawn objections on the record. A municipal consultant review warned that a uniform rate applied to TOTE's terminal for improvements benefiting Matson's could disrupt competitive cargo markets. Matson told Port Commissioners that uneven rates would shift business between carriers and cut surcharge revenue.

If no further state or federal money arrives, the plan forecasts a cargo surcharge of $70.43 per ton by 2033. The rate is reviewed annually.