Chattogram port has slipped back three steps just in a year in terms of annual throughput of containers in 2022 among the world’s top 100 container ports, according to the latest data from Lloyd, the world’s oldest shipping journal based in London.
Though the prime seaport of the country climbed up three steps to become the world’s 64th busiest port last year, it has slipped three notches to 67th busiest port among the global ports.
The latest edition of Lloyd’s List’s One Hundred Ports was published last week, tallying up the annual container throughput figures of the world’s elite port facilities in 2022.
“Bangladesh's premier port's progress remains hindered by capacity limitations,” the report reads.
In 2022, Chattogram port handled a total of 31,42,504 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) of containers, posting 2.2 per cent down year-on-year in container handling. It handled 32,14,548 TEUs of containers in the previous year.
However, the port saw a huge growth in terms of annual container transport in 2019 while it climbed up top notches in its history, securing the 58th position. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the port dropped nine notches from its position.
According to the data, the port handled around 28.94 lakh TEUs of containers in 2019 while it handled 29,03,996 TEUs of containers in 2018, up 8.90 per cent from 26,67,223 TEUs in 2017. Since 2014, Chattogram port has been gradually advancing its position on Lloyd’s List as one of the world’s busiest ports.
That year it ranked 87th, handling around 1.6 million TEUs. In 2020, the port dropped nine notches on the list of the 100 busiest ports in the world in terms of container transport, slipping from the 58th to 67th position.
Last year the port bounced back to 64th position. But it has slipped three notches to 67th busiest port again.
Russia-Ukraine war commenced in early 2022, badly affecting the country’s imports resulting in a decrease in container handling compared to the previous year, port officials claimed.
A total of $ 75.40 billion worth of goods were imported during the July-May period of the fiscal year 2021-22, which dropped to $ 58.77 billion compared to the same period of the fiscal year 2022-23, posting a 14.11 drop in imports, according to Bangladesh Bank.
As per Lloyd's List, “The post-pandemic boom that helped the global container port sector recoup Covid-induced volume losses, started to fade in 2022.”
For the world's container ports, this meant a return to the days of moderate demand growth--a trend that had become a firm fixture for the industry in the pre-Covid period.
“The 100 ports featured in our latest rankings count achieved combined volume growth of 1.5 per cent in 2022, with total lifting stacking up to 685.8m TEUs,” it added.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022 triggered a massive shock to the global economy which is still reeling from the effects of the worst pandemic in a century.
Energy and food prices skyrocketed amid a supply squeeze, doing little to lift the lid on inflationary pressure or quell sky-high interest rates in the western world.
For the elite container ports, the turmoil in Eastern Europe further dampened an already bleak demand setting and quashed any hopes of a quick return to pre-pandemic norms, it said.
