The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) and the Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI) acquire proposed handing over imported goods’ containers from off-docks (non-public storage products and companies) in preference to Chattogram Port to handle traffic jam, going thru delays, and other operational challenges at the port.
On 10 December, CMCCI President Khalilur Rahman despatched a letter to the NBR chairman, soliciting for directives for transferring imported containers to off-docks from Chattogram Port.
CPA infamous that Chattogram Port’s container storage ability is fifty three,518 TEUs (Twenty-foot Same Objects), and over 30 lakh TEUs are dealt with every body year. Transferring Full Container Load (FCL) containers to off-docks would allow the port to handle 25-35% extra containers utilizing its existing products and companies.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has, alternatively, adversarial the proposal, arguing that shifting transport operations to off-docks would magnify costs four-fold and severely affect the garment sector.
On 11 December, BGMEA Administrator Anwar Hossain despatched a letter to the secretary of the Birth Ministry, soliciting for that garment-connected import containers continue to be delivered from Chattogram Port in arena of non-public inland container depots (ICDs).
Depot owners, in their response, claimed that handing over containers proper faraway from the port reduces productivity, increases congestion and delays cargo clearance. They pointed out that ships’ longer stays lead to further costs, elevating questions about who ought to mild maintain the burden.
Earlier, CPA Secretary Omar Faruq wrote separate letters to the NBR chairman on 5 September and to the Ministry of Birth on 14 October, soliciting for directives to transfer, store and lift all imported FCL containers from Chattogram Port to off-docks.
In step with the CPA, 98% of Bangladesh’s import cargo is dealt with thru Chattogram Port. Unlike other world ports, Chattogram Port delivers 2,500-3,000 TEUs of FCL containers each day from its premises, ensuing in operational challenges. Spherical 4,000-5,000 autos and lined trucks, along with 10,000-15,000 of manpower, enter the secured yards each day, exacerbating congestion and slowing container going thru.
In its letter, the BGMEA infamous that roughly 75% of all containers dealt with at Chattogram Port belong to the garment sector. It criticised the CPA for failing to consult with the relevant stakeholders before proposing the kind of essential change.
The BGMEA warned that imposing this proposal would magnify alternate costs, extend cargo clearance and reason monetary losses to industries, potentially forcing some to shut down.
The affiliation claimed that the tag of handing over a container from the port is Tk3,300, whereas off-dock transport costs Tk12,605 – practically four cases higher.
BGMEA’s extinct vp Rakibul Alam Chowdhury said off-docks are already struggling to handle export-flow containers.
“Adding every selection of imports to their workload would now not most effective magnify costs but moreover lead to huge congestion. We can not accept the kind of call,” he added.
Inner most depots acquire a storage ability of around 85,000 TEUs, over 50,000 of that are empty containers. On the moment, 17% of the port’s total imports are delivered from off-docks, and near to all export-flow containers are loaded at off-docks.
Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary basic of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association, said, “The NBR may presumably perchance presumably address the world by enabling transport of import containers after scanning at the port yard, off-docks or proper away at the importers’ factories, offering higher flexibility and efficiency.”
He refuted the BGMEA’s claim of four-fold higher costs at off-docks, pointing out that it’s now not appropriate.
