Ctg port’s container handling sees 25.69pc growth in May

The Chittagong port has handled 2,57,421 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers in the month of May, 2021, which is apparently 25.69 percent higher than the same period of the preceding year, according to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).

The country’s prime port handled 2,04,801 TEUs of containers in the month of May 2020.

As per CPA data, some 28,33,897 TEUs of containers were shipped through the country’s prime seaport during the July to May of the fiscal 2020-21, up from 27,84,992 TEUs in the same period of the last fiscal.

On the other hand, some 87,58,865 metric tons cargo were handled in the Chittagong port in the month of May, 2021, up from 53,43,915 metric tons in the same period of the preceding year.

During the first 11 months of the fiscal, the port handled some 10,55,22,980 metric tons cargo which is 1,03,52,950 metric tons higher than the same period of the last fiscal 2019-20, data showed.

The data also showed that some 337 vessels were handled in the Chittagong port in the month of May, 2021, up from 223 vessels in the same month of the previous year.

Some 3,757 vessels of containers were handled through the seaport during the July to May of the fiscal 2020-21, up from 3,527 vessels in the same period of the last fiscal.

Talking to BSS, CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Shahjahan said during the two-month countrywide shutdown last year after the Covid-19 outbreak, the seaport faced acute and prolonged container and vessel congestion due to stockpiling of undelivered containers.

“Because of the bitter experience of the last year, we took prior initiatives, including issuance of letters to the importers and other users and kept asking the users repeatedly to keep the port congestion free. For the initiative, we got benefit,” he added.

He mentioned that the port has so far faced zero congestion even during the Ramadan and lockdown as the delivery activities have been running smoothly.

The CPA chairman informed that within a single day in May, the port authority has set a record through handling 10,060 TEUs containers and delivering 5,030 TEUs.

Despite fear of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, he said, export-import trade through the Chittagong port is showing a positive trend.

“The trend is encouraging compared to other ports in the world. Under the Corona situation, many of the world’s ports reduced operational activity in the labor crisis. Or it had to be stopped. But no such crisis was allowed to arise in Chittagong port. The port’s operational activities were not closed for a single moment,” he added.