Desk Report,
14,000 export containers pile up, impact of NBR’s program
Due to this 14000 export two-day program, 63 containers left the port without carrying 14000 export export goods on Saturday. On the second day, 3,680 containers were not exported on three ships. Due to the two-day ‘shutdown’ program of customs officials and employees, about 14,000 export containers have piled up in 19 depots in Chittagong. Although the program was withdrawn last Sunday night, no goods were exported. However, some work, including export customs clearance, has started after the evening.
14,000 export containers pile up, impact of NBR’s program
It has been learned from the port, shipping agents and container depots that due to this two-day program, 63 containers left the port without carrying export goods on the first day last Saturday. On the second day, 3,680 containers were not exported on three ships. On the other hand, due to the lack of work, the number of export containers in Chittagong depots has increased to more than 14,000. Although the program was withdrawn, there is no opportunity to export them on time.
The majority of the stuck export products are from the garment industry. For example, 30 containers of products of the Asian-Duff Group of Chittagong were supposed to be sent to the United States. These containerized export goods were stuck in the program. When asked, Asian-Duff Group Managing Director MA Salam told Prothom Alo that none of the stuck containerized goods will reach the buyers on time. The two-day program caused irreparable damage to the garment industry.
No activities such as unloading containers from ships, unloading imported goods or exporting goods can be done without the approval of customs. Due to the shutdown program of customs officials and employees, no approval was obtained for any activities on Saturday. As a result, import and export activities did not take place on Saturday. However, containers were loaded and unloaded based on the approval of the previous day. A total of 139 containers were unloaded.
The main impact of the program was yesterday. Three ships were supposed to leave the port on that day. But the ships could not leave the three ports as the export containers did not arrive from the depot. One of these three ships, the ‘AS Cecilia’, was supposed to leave the port for Singapore with 564 single containers. From there, it was supposed to be transferred to large ships bound for Europe and America. Similarly, the ‘Express Nilwala’ ship was supposed to export 1,460 single containers and the ‘Hong Da Jin-68’ ship was supposed to export 1,666 single containers. All three ships are now sitting idle at the jetty without receiving export containers.
