Chittagong is heavily congested with nearly 40,000 containers piled up
The port of Chittagong is severely congested, with nearly 40,000 containers piling up and importers facing high demurrage charges. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry have called on the government to waive the fees to ease the burden on businesses. At present, the port yard space is almost saturated, and the operation is hindered.
Student protests in Bangladesh have had a ripple effect over the past week, with highways blocked, curfews imposed and Internet services restricted. The series of incidents has had a serious impact on the port of Chittagong, where nearly 40,000 TEUs of containers are currently piled up at the port terminal, mainly carrying imported goods that need to be handled urgently.
For importers, the situation is even more dire. According to the port regulations, the container stays in the port yard for more than four days, resulting in a huge demurrage. Specifically, a 20-foot container will be charged $6 per day starting on day 5, $12 per day after 12 days, increasing over time to $24 after day 21; A 40-foot container charges twice as much. This is undoubtedly another blow on top of the already huge economic losses caused by factory closures and shipment delays.
To ease the burden on businesses, the Bangladesh Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry have called on the government to waive demurrage fees. Last Wednesday, the former made it clear that it would waive demurrage fees for the week and suspend all new fees for 15 days after port operations return to normal.
In this regard, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, India's deputy minister of shipping, said on the 25th that the government is actively considering the application of enterprises, and pointed out that during the epidemic period, the storage fee reduction policy has been implemented for enterprises that cannot receive goods in time, and this time it is possible to adjust according to the actual needs of enterprises.
The situation in Chittagong, however, remains grim. The accumulation of a large number of containers has occupied about 80% of the storage yard space of the port, far exceeding the usual 60% congestion warning line, seriously hindering the normal operation of the port. Although Internet connectivity has gradually been restored, the port Authority has been able to handle only about 3,500 TEUs of container deliveries per day over the past two days, with efficiency far from returning to normal levels.
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