Chattogram port starts new FY with slight container drop

The Chattogram port has begun the new financial year with a slight decline in container handling due to disruptions caused by nationwide unrest.

The prime seaport of the country handled 235,811 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers in July, a 1.33 per cent decrease compared to the 238,997 TEUs handled in the same month last year, according to official data.

In the just-concluded month, the port processed 59,854 TEUs of export-laden boxes, 57,353 TEUs of outbound empty boxes, 114,455 TEUs of import-laden boxes, and 4,149 TEUs of empty import boxes.

A senior port official said the decline of 3,186 TEUs compared to July last year was "rational".

"Port operations were severely disrupted by student protests, curfews and internet cuts," he said.

Container shipments and deliveries through the Chittagong port were suspended for about a week during the third and fourth weeks of last month.

Apart from roadblocks by protesters, the internet shutdown hampered export and import activities as customs software systems could not process data, he said.

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