In comparison to the same period last year, the Chittagong port handled a greater volume of goods and containers in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
Business leaders characterised it as a positive trend for the country’s exports, but they also noted that the country’s overall exports had not yet reached the anticipated levels of growth.
During the July–March fiscal year 2023–24, the port handled more than 8.27 per cent more containers.
The port handled 23.38 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), comprising empty and loaded containers, between July of last year and March of this year, according to figures published by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
It had handled 21.60 lakh TEUs in the first nine months of the prior fiscal year.
According to CPA sources, the tally was kept at the port’s main jetties, Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICT) in Keraniganj and Kamalapur Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Dhaka.
Containers are used to import a wide range of goods intended for commercial use, commodities, machinery, chemical products, and industrial raw materials, except for those used in the cement and ceramics industries.
Additionally, only containers are used to convey goods intended for export.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail, the chairman of the CPA, expressed optimism during a briefing on Wednesday that, on the current trend, container handling would surpass 3.2 million TEUs by the end of the fiscal year.
During this time, there was a 4.38 per cent increase in total cargo handling, which includes both bulk and containerised freight.
The port handled a total of 9.16 crore tonnes of cargo in the first 9 months of fiscal year 2023-24, up from 8.78 crore tonnes in the same period a year ago.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) First Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam said garment exports amounted to US $ 37.2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
This is 4.6 per cent lower than the target of US $ 39 billion, he said. According to him, this is 4.6 per cent less than the US $ 39 billion goal.
He continued by saying that neither exports nor the import of raw materials for clothing companies rose as anticipated. Nearly all raw materials imported for the production of clothing are shipped in containers along with exported goods.
Omar Hazzaz, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), noted that although cargo and container handling at the port have increased, it is still too early to determine whether the nation’s foreign trade has begun to rebound. He noted that exports had not yet reached anticipated levels.
However, he stated that the rise in cargo handling at the port was “a good sign” and it showed that country’s import trade was rising gradually.
