Up to three container jetties at the Chittagong port remain vacant every day this month due to the arrival of a lower number of ships.
This is totally opposite scenario to the normal period for the country’s prime seaport which had been frequently facing vessel congestions in the past and long queue of ships at the outer anchorage.
The berthing report of Chittagong Port in Bangladesh shows that on 18 September, two jetties remained vacant while three jetties remained vacant on the previous day. Additionally, for the period 3-14 September, one to two jetties remained vacant on different days on average.
Stakeholders say the arrival of fewer ships was caused by a drastic fall in imports amid tough measures taken by the government owing to the dollar crunch. The country’s foreign currency reserve now almost halved compared to August 2021 due to a fall in forex earnings through exporting goods and inflow of remittance.
There are ten dedicated jetties for container vessels and six jetties for bulk carriers at the Chittagong port.
Syed Mohammad Arif, chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), said small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are failing to open letters of credit as banks are not cooperating with them amid a dearth of US dollars.
“Raw materials import has fallen significantly thus number of incoming vessels has lessened,” he noted.
Arif said the main reason is the dollar crunch and the government is discouraging not to import any luxury items. And, also in most cases, businesses are importing goods much less than the actual need.
Citing an example, Arif said the Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills, commonly known as BSRM, a Bangladeshi steel manufacturing conglomerate based in Chittagong, in the past, had been bringing raw materials in eight to nine vessels every month. But in recent months, the vessel arrival carrying raw materials for the company came down to one to two.
Small millers even fail to import the minimum required raw materials as the banks are opening LCs for them.
Mohammed Abdullah Jahir, Chief Operating Officer of Saif Maritime Ltd., said that a fall in ship arrival in Chittagong port was a result of the disruption in the transportation of goods as well as restrictions issued by Western nations after the war began in Ukraine last year.
He pointed out that in July, imports had increased but it fell again in August. “The Ukraine and Russia war is slowing the world economy while Bangladesh’s economic pace is sluggish due to the dollar crisis,” he highlighted.
Sharar Nayel
Asia Correspondent
