Export container handling at Ctg port rises by 3,041 TEUs in March

Laden export container handling at Chittagong Port increased by 3,041 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in March compared to February, according to port official data.

Import container handling also rose slightly, by 870 TEUs, during the same period.

Data from Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) shows that a total of 68,491 TEUs of export-laden containers were handled in March 2025, up from 65,450 TEUs in February.

In the same month, 42,873 TEUs of empty export containers were also shipped (returned).

On the import side, 107,925 TEUs of laden import containers and 5,348 TEUs of empty import containers were handled in March.

Altogether, including loaded and empty import and export containers, the port handled 225,087 TEUs in March, CPA data shows.

In comparison, February saw a total of 228,184 TEUs, including 44,309 TEUs of empty export containers and 11,370 TEUs of empty import containers—significantly higher than March's figures in both categories.

While cargo container handling (laden import and export containers) was higher in March, overall container throughput was actually 3,097 TEUs lower than in February due to a notable drop in the number of empty containers handled.

Almost all export goods handled through Chittagong Port are first brought to private inland container depots (ICDs). After being loaded into containers at these depots, the goods are shipped out as per schedule.

Ruhul Amin Sikder, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), attributed the month-on-month increase in export container handling to two main factors: the difference in the number of days between the two months—March having 31 days compared to 28 in February—and a slight rise in export shipments.

Currently, 98% of Bangladesh's import-export trade containers are processed through Chattogram Port, which handles over 3.2 million containers annually.