Experiencing negative growth last fiscal year alongside the calendar year, the Chattogram port is on way to witness a rise in the amount of container and cargo handled in the current fiscal year, riding on an increase in foreign trade in recent months.

As per data from the traffic department of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) of June 24, annual container throughput has already exceeded the 30.07 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of the last fiscal year of 2022-23.

There is still two days to go before the current fiscal year comes to an end.

Port officials and users attributed this rebound in container throughput at the port to a gradual rise in the country's import and export trade in recent months.

Container handling by the port increased year-on-year during most of the months of fiscal year 2023-24, excepting for August and April, when it declined.

In May, the port handled 3 lakh TEUs of containers, a record high in the port's history.

As per data from the traffic department of Chittagong Port Authority of June 24, annual container throughput has already exceeded the 30.07 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units of the last fiscal year

Officials at the port's traffic department said 2.21 lakh TEUs of container were handled in the first 24 days of the current month.

Data shows that a total of 3,115,125 TEUs of containers have so far been handled at the port in the current fiscal year till June 24, which is a 3.58 percent rise from that handled in FY23.

The CPA has prepared the data by calculating the number of import, export and empty containers loaded and unloaded at the main jetties of the port, Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Keraniganj and Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in Dhaka.

Officials estimated that annual container throughput in FY24 may not reach 32.55 lakh TEUs, which was attained in FY22, but may reach close to 32 lakh TEUs.

Similarly, the port handled 11.35 crore tonnes of cargo till May this year, which is around 48 lakh tonnes less than the 11.83 crore tonnes handled last fiscal year.

A senior official of the CPA traffic department said the port handled around one crore tonnes or so of cargo every month over the last 11 months, which indicates that the annual cargo handling may exceed 12 crore tonnes this fiscal year.

Omar Hazzaz, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it was evident that foreign trade had grown in recent quarters as importers were showing confidence in increasing imports.

Credit goes to a slight improvement in the US dollar crisis while the country's exports are also seeing an upward trend as economic turmoil in destination countries have started to ease, he said.

Mentioning that such an increase in foreign trade helped increase the amount of both container and cargo handled by the port, Hazzaz hoped for handsome growth in terms of throughput at the end of the fiscal year.