Chattogram Port surpasses FY24 container handling rates despite multiple setbacks

With 15 days remaining in the 2024-25 fiscal year, container handling at Chattogram Port has surpassed the total volume handled in the previous year, overcoming the dollar crisis, LC complications, and floods.

In FY25, a total of over 3.17 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of import and export containers have been handled at Bangladesh’s main seaport.

In comparison, the total container handling in FY24 stood at over 3.16 million TEUs. Precisely speaking, that is 3,089 more containers handled this fiscal year, with two weeks to spare.

In FY23, the port handled 3 million TEUs.

A port official told bdnews24.com that despite disruptions caused by the July Uprising, prolonged floods, extended Eid holidays, a customs officers’ work strike, and a transport strike, this year’s container volume has already surpassed the previous fiscal year.

If the current trend continues, the handling volume may reach 3.3 million TEUs by the end of the fiscal year, according to port authorities.

This drastic improvement has been credited to infrastructural changed in the port, including automated services, the introduction of e-gate passes, and modernisation of the container operating system.

Enhanced cooperation from port users and faster cargo clearance have also contributed to the port’s increased productivity.

Captain Ahmed Amin Abdullah, Member (Harbour & Marine) of Chattogram Port, told bdnews24.com: “Despite various challenges, we handled more containers by the 15th of June this fiscal year than in the previous one. With 15 more days to go, we hope to set a new record.”

He added, “The current level of progress at the port is the result of combined efforts from the staff and port users. We hope the handling rate will keep going upward for the remainder of the fiscal year.”