CHITTAGONG, July 25: The Chittagong Port handled 1.6255 million (16,25,509) TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) of containers in the just concluded fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, following rise in import-export activities, port officials said.
The port handles containerized cargo in six general container berths (GCB), three Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) berths, and two berths in the New Mooring Container Terminal (NMCT), while the port handles break-bulk cargo in its six GCBs.
As per data provided by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) deputy director (traffic) Masiur Rahman Baig, in the last fiscal the port handled the highest number of containers in May 2014 and the lowest in November 2013.
The volume in tonnage of the containerized cargo handled in the FY is 16.1377 million with an annual growth rate of 10.68 per cent over the previous year.
In the FY 2012-13, the country's largest seaport handled 14.556 million tonnes of cargo in 1.4687 million TEUs of containers, the port officials said.
The month-wise container handling of the fiscal 2013-14 is - 149,549 TEUs in July 2013, 133,525 TEUs in August, 134,613 TEUs in September, 123,492 TEUs in October, 119,202 TEUs in November, 125,912 TEUs in December, 139,305 TEUs in January 2014, 127,172 TEUs in February, 134,937 TEUs in March,
138,491 TEUs in April, 154,442 TEUs in May and 144,879 TEUs in June.
Besides, the seaport handled a total of 4,72,98,547 tonnes of break-bulk and containerized cargo in FY 2013-14 against the volume of 4,33, 71,668 tonnes in the previous fiscal, marking a growth of 9.05 per cent.
The port saw 6.04 per cent cargo handling growth in the FY 2012-13, while the containerized cargo handling growth was 9.66 per cent.
However, in the calendar year 2012 container handling at the Chittagong Port registered the lowest growth. The port handled a total of 1.4 million TEUs of containers. Container handling in that calendar year grew marginally by 1.03 per cent. The growth was 3.0 per cent in 2011, and over 21 per cent in 2010.
The port handles more than 92 per cent of the country's sea-borne external trade in terms of volume.
It now has the capacity to handle around 1.9 million TEUs of containers. It is yet to exercise its full capacity of containerized cargo handling, as three berths of NMCT are yet to be used.
