Container movement thru Ctg port on the decline

Container movement through Chattogram port began a downward trend in the second half of 2022 that has stretched into the first two months of the current calendar year, according to shipping agents.

As such, container movement through the premier seaport of Bangladesh hit an eight-month low in February, they said.

And amid the continuous fall in import-laden containers, international shipping line Hapag Lloyd recently decided to discontinue operations of its lone feeder vessel on the Chattogram-Colombo route.

Last June, a total of 262,477 twenty-foot equivalent units (TWUs) of containers, including empty ones, were transported to and from the port while the figure dropped to 230,902 TEUs the following month.

Container movement has fallen gradually each month since then with only two indications of recovery coming in August and November.

With this backdrop, shipping agents say container movement has declined by more than 27 per cent in the last eight months ending with February, when only 168,074 TEUs of containers were transported.

On a year-on-year basis, container movement dropped 28.74 per cent from 235,861 TEUs in February 2022.

Various shipping agents say that while both imports and exports fell sharply during this period, the decline in imports is far more significant.

In July last year a total of 118667 TEUs of import containers, including loaded and empty ones, arrived at the port while the figure stood at only 87,966 TEUs this February.

Meanwhile, a total of 112,235 TEUs, both loaded and unloaded, were shipped from the port in July last year while the volume came down to 80,108 TEUs in February.

Abdullah Jahir, chief executive officer of Saif Maritime, said global economic activities have slowed amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Bangladesh is no exception as the country saw a marked decline in export orders.

"Also, imports have fallen significantly due to the acute US dollar crisis, which is evident in the shipping trade as well," he added.

Hapag Lloyd started operating its feeder vessel, Hansa Rendsburg, on the Chattogram-Colombo route four months back and made a total of 10 voyages between the two ports.

An official of the shipping line's local office said they were getting adequate imports from Colombo at first, but the volume eventually dropped.

In the last several voyages, the 1,740 TEUs-capacity vessel was getting just 500 to 700 TEUs of import containers, he said.

In bid to minimise losses, the shipping line had started bringing a significant number of empty containers on each voyage.

However, this leads to a rise in the stock of empty containers, he added.

The official of Hapag Lloyd then said they discontinued operations on the route considering the meagre quantity of import containers against high operating costs, bunker costs and other expenses involved.