Chittagong Port has recorded a notable year-on-year increase in container handling, with a 10.21 per cent rise in the number of containers processed from August to October compared to the previous year. The port handled a total of 830,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which includes both loaded and empty containers, up from 754,000 TEUs in the same period last year.
Of the 830,000 TEUs processed, 450,000 TEUs arrived at the port while the remainder were bound for international destinations. The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) gathered this data from the port’s jetties, Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in Dhaka, and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Keraniganj.
According to industry insiders, the increase in container movement can be attributed to the clearing of backlogs created by political unrest that disrupted transport since mid-July. Muntasir Rubayat, head of operations at GBX Logistics, noted that significant congestion had developed in the port’s yards due to delays in cargo unloading and a queue of vessels waiting to dock.
While container handling has surged, overall cargo throughput at the port has decreased by 5.18 per cent year-on-year, with a total of 29.1 million tonnes handled from August to October, down from 30.7 million tonnes during the same period last year. This decline has been linked to reduced bulk cargo imports and difficulties in securing letters of credit due to a US dollar crisis, according to Syed Md Arif, president of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association. Importers have been forced to make smaller purchases, leading to a shift towards hiring smaller bulk carriers.
Despite a drop in the overall number of vessels, with 966 arrivals in the last three months compared to 1,023 during the same period last year, there has been an uptick in the arrival of bulk carriers in September and October.
As the situation stabilises, port officials anticipate continued growth in container handling in the upcoming months.
