Ctg businesses turn to weekends to ease strike-blockade pain

Impact of strike, blockades

• Sales fall sharply
• Cost of transporting goods soars
• Container deliveries fall by almost half
• Bank transactions decrease too

Businesses in the port city are trying to utilise weekends as they are suffering heavy losses due to the strike and blockade programmes called by the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. 

The political protest programmes have disrupted transportation and commerce, leading to a sharp decline in sales and production.

Tapan Sen Gupta, deputy general manager, BSRM, which is a leading steel rod producer in the country, told The Business Standard, "Businesses have been struggling for some time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the dollar crisis. But the ongoing political crisis has made things even worse."

BSRM has seen its steel sales fall by up to 60% due to the ongoing protests, Gupta said.

He said the protests have disrupted transportation and commerce, making it difficult to deliver steel products to customers. The BSRM official said that the company is also facing as much as 50% higher transportation costs and safety concerns.

Gupta said that BSRM is prioritising deliveries on weekends, when there is less risk of protests and violence.

Another steel producer, KR Group, has also seen its sales fall by half due to the protests. KR Group Chairman Sekandar Hossain Tinku told TBS that the company's sales have fallen from 150 tonnes per day to 80 tonnes per day. He said that the protests have also led to a decline in sales of scrap steel, which is used to make steel products.

S Alam Cement, one of Bangladesh's leading cement producers, has seen its sales fall by half due to the ongoing protests, according to the company's deputy general manager, Shafiqul Islam.

Islam said the protests have disrupted transportation and commerce, making it difficult to deliver cement products to customers. He said that the company is also facing safety concerns and a decline in demand.

Islam explained that S Alam Cement is focusing its delivery efforts on weekends, when disruptions due to protests and demonstrations are less likely to occur.

SM Kamruzzaman, owner of a wholesale rod and cement business in Chattogram's Asadganj area, said the cost of transporting goods from Chattogram to Sylhet has soared from Tk17,000 to Tk22,000 per 13 tonnes due to the protest programmes.

Kamruzzaman said his sales have also fallen sharply. "I sold only six trucks (78 tonnes) of rods from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon, compared to more than 100 tonnes per day in normal times."

The protest programmes have created a climate of fear and uncertainty, making it difficult for businesses to operate, Kamruzzaman said. 

He said while some vehicles are transporting goods at night for an additional fee, most vehicles are operating on weekends. However, even when transporting goods on weekends, the vehicles have to think about whether they can safely return after delivering the goods.

On condition of anonymity, the branch manager of a private bank at Khatunganj said that the bank's transactions have decreased by 40-50% compared to normal times over the last week. The situation has arisen due to the decline in sales as vehicles from far-flung areas are not entering the market.

Port activities being disrupted

The delivery and handling of containers at the Chattogram port has been severely disrupted by the six days of hartal and blockade in three phases. As a result of the programme, the number of container deliveries from the port has fallen by almost half to 2,000. Importers are concerned about collecting goods from the port during the blockade.

Under normal circumstances, the Chattogram port handles a daily container throughput of between 3,000 and 4,000, with approximately 5,000 to 6,000 trucks, covered vans, and prime movers entering the port to collect these goods.

Importers are granted a four-day grace period after their containers are unloaded from ships before they are required to pay rent. Following this initial period, importers are charged a daily fee of $6 for a 20-foot container during the first week.

The daily fee for a 20-foot container doubles to $12 for the second week and continues to escalate to $24 from the 21st day onwards. For 40-foot containers, the charges follow a similar doubling pattern.

According to officials concerned, container handling at the port is calculated from 8:00am on the previous day to 8:00am on the following day. On October 27, the port handled 4,132 TEUs of containers. But due to the political programmes, the port handled 2,106 TEUs of containers on October 30, 2023.

After a one-day hartal, from 8am on 30 October to 8am on 31 October, container delivery was 4,105 TEUs. In the following two days, container delivery fell below 3,000. On November 3 (Friday), delivery increased to 5,451 TEUs, higher than normal. Due to the latest two-day blockade, on November 6, from 8:00am on November 5 to 8:00am on November 6, container delivery was 1,992 TEUs