THE lack of 40-foot containers to mainline carriers are forcing operators to stop booking from Chittagong, while container rates to US increase, reports IHS Media.
An estimated 14,000 TEU of laden containers with export goods are stuck at depots at the main Bangladeshi port of Chittagong due to availability and congestion.
'Goods are failing to reach the buyers due to the non-shipment of export containers caused by the space crisis in mother vessels,' said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice president Syed Nazrul Islam.
Mr Islam declared depots are filled with outbound cargoes with trucks waiting there for nearly a week to unload goods, causing exporters to pay additional demurrage costs.
Chittagong shippers are now paying US$8,000 to $10,000 to send an FEU US-bound container, up from $1,200 to $2,000 before the Covid crisis. The cost to Europe is $15,000 per container, up from $2,000.
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) head of operations Ajmir Hossain: 'Forecasts say the rate will increase even more due to the instability in ports globally and also due to the effect of the pandemic.'
MSC has not stopped taking Europe-bound bookings from Chittagong, but it is being careful with the space allocation on mother vessels at the transshipment ports.
SeaNews Turkey
An estimated 14,000 TEU of laden containers with export goods are stuck at depots at the main Bangladeshi port of Chittagong due to availability and congestion.
'Goods are failing to reach the buyers due to the non-shipment of export containers caused by the space crisis in mother vessels,' said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice president Syed Nazrul Islam.
Mr Islam declared depots are filled with outbound cargoes with trucks waiting there for nearly a week to unload goods, causing exporters to pay additional demurrage costs.
Chittagong shippers are now paying US$8,000 to $10,000 to send an FEU US-bound container, up from $1,200 to $2,000 before the Covid crisis. The cost to Europe is $15,000 per container, up from $2,000.
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) head of operations Ajmir Hossain: 'Forecasts say the rate will increase even more due to the instability in ports globally and also due to the effect of the pandemic.'
MSC has not stopped taking Europe-bound bookings from Chittagong, but it is being careful with the space allocation on mother vessels at the transshipment ports.
SeaNews Turkey