Containers pile up at Ctg Port as customs office shuts down

Highlights

• Ctg customs officers joined NBR march in Dhaka; C&F staff also stayed away in solidarity
• NBR strike began 14 May, paused briefly, resumed 23 June; full shutdown from Saturday
• Revenue shortfall looms: Tk73,628cr collected so far against FY25 target of Tk80,402cr
• Port yard congestion rising, with TEU count expected to exceed 40,000 soon

While vessel loading and unloading at the Chattogram Port continues, the absence of customs clearance has effectively stalled the import-export process. The 19 private ICDs that handle a large share of the country's containerised trade are also inoperative.

All operations halted, no personnel present and gates locked at Chattogram Custom House, a station that generates over Tk2 billion in daily revenue. Photos were taken on 28 June/ TBS.

According to Chattogram Custom House data, their revenue target for FY25 is Tk80,402 crore. As of 27 June, Tk73,628.31 crore was collected. Customs insiders blamed the NBR unrest for the shortfall as the next fiscal year (FY26) begins on 1 July.

Rezaul Karim Swapan, customs affairs secretary of the Chattogram Customs Agents Association, told TBS that no customs-related activities were performed at the Custom House on Saturday (28 June), with even C&F staff staying away in support of the NBR officials' protest.

The disruption is already being felt. Normally, the port delivers over 4,000 containers daily. But between 8am on 27 June and 8am on 28 June, only 3,350 TEUs were delivered. 

The port yard, with a capacity of 53,518 TEUs, had 38,862 TEUs stored as of this morning, a number expected to cross 40,000 TEUs in the next few days.

Nazmul Haque, executive director of Saif Powertech, the operator of the NCT and CCT terminals at the port, said, "We are receiving reports that export containers are not arriving from the depots. There is a vessel sailing schedule tomorrow [Sunday]. By tomorrow, we will be able to understand the extent of disruption to the export container schedule."

Attempts to reach the Chattogram Port Authority's Secretary, Md Omar Faruk, over the phone were unsuccessful.

 ICD operations paralysed

Under normal conditions, private ICDs send around 2000 to 2,200 TEUs of export containers to the port daily and receive about 1,000 TEUs of imports. 

Additionally, 3,200–3,500 trucks carrying export goods arrive at the depots from different parts of the country. All of this has now come to a halt.

Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (Bicda), said customs officials did not show up on Saturday, leaving both import and export assessments suspended. 

"With no export bills submitted, trucks carrying export goods are being denied entry, and around 2,000 TEUs of scheduled export containers are not reaching the port," he said.

According to Bicda data, from 8am on 27 June to 8am on 28 June, only 1,782 TEUs of export containers were shipped, while 1,062 TEUs of import containers arrived from the port. 

The number of export-bound containers at ICDs in Chittagong stood at 12,643 TEUs on 27 June, compared to the usual 8,000 TEUs.

Imran Fahim Noor, managing director of Vertex Logistics, said such strikes — especially by key government policy-level actors — are damaging to the national economy. He termed the situation a "bad sign" for the country's trade and logistics ecosystem.