At a time when exporters are fighting container scarcity, reports have claimed that a lot of empty containers are lying idle at the private Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in Bangladesh — around 26,336 empty containers were, reportedly, lying idle at 19 private ICDs — even if of those, the number of containers that are specifically required for exports are just a few.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Secretary of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), Ruhul Amin Sikder, reportedly, maintained that small-sized (20-foot) containers are not preferred to carry export cargoes — of the around 26,336 empty containers, reportedly, lying idle at 19 private ICDs, 13,647 are boxes of 20-foot containers, while the remaining 12,689 are 40-foot containers — and it is the 40-foot containers that are mostly used for export purpose.
Although there are 12,689 40-foot empty containers in the ICDs, most of them cannot be booked for many reasons, reportedly, claimed the BICDA Secretary underlining that some of the 40-foot containers are also damaged and not suitable for exports while Director of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, Khairul Alam Sujan, on his part, reportedly, stated many of the empty containers are idling as shipping companies or mainline operators (MLOs) that own those, have no services to ports in Europe and USA, the two major export destinations of Bangladesh.