Chittagong port dropped out of the list of three million or 30 lac containers last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The port is going to set a record in container transport before the end of the year after overcoming that hurdle. Container transport is increasing mainly based on import-export trade.
According to the port, as of 6 December this year, the container transport has exceeded 30 lacs. So at the end of the year, it will surpass the previous record. Before this, the highest container transport was in 2019. 3 lacs and 88 thousand containers were transported through the service port. Last year during COVID-19, container transport dropped by about 8% to 28 lacs and 39 thousand.
Factory activities which came to a standstill at the end of the second wave of the pandemic, have started up again. Imports of industrial raw materials are also increasing to keep production running. Especially the import of raw materials in the garment sector has increased, and so has the export of manufactured goods. At the end of the day, this has sped up the number of container transports increasing.
Despite the increase in container transports, the port did not have to suffer long periods of container congestion like other developed ports around the world. Once a ship arrives after several months, there is an opportunity to dock at the jetty every day or every one or two days. This means it is no longer necessary to wait for a long time to get the products. For this, the port authority has taken new steps in the management of the jetty.
