In the Chattogram Port’s yard, almost 9,000 containers have gathered over more than 20 years while they wait for their importers to claim the products.
The port is currently juggling an enormous inventory of 8,918 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers that were eligible for auction as of yesterday. A vast amount of merchandise that was previously scheduled for sale is already present in the port’s various sheds, posing a logistical issue for the Chattogram Port Authority.
According to port data, each of the 8,918 TEU containers holds an average of 22 tonnes of goods, so an estimated 197,000 tonnes of goods are available for auction in the containers alone.
The port authority stated that the delay resulted from Chattogram Customs’ slow demolition and sale processes. They wrote to customs on 15th April, requesting that 1,556 lots of merchandise kept in several port sheds be put up for auction. The amount of items in the lots beneath the sheds could not be determined, though, by the port officials.
They claimed that although they had already given customs the paperwork required to auction off the items in the sheds, nothing had happened as of yet.
They further said the less-than-container-load (LCL) goods lying in the container freight station sheds for such a long period not only impede revenue collection for the government but also pose security risks along with the likelihood of increased fire incidents at the port.
The port officials stated that since June 6, 2022, they have written to the customs authorities 16 times, pleading with them to auction the commodities and destroy the perishables. Despite their repeated requests, the auction process has remained unmoving, which has negatively impacted port operations.
If imported goods are not redeemed during the 30-day term after being confiscated during physical inspections for dodging customs duties, they will be put up for auction. Imported commodities left unclaimed by importers. The customs officials destroy the imported products if they expire at the port even after following the correct procedures.