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LLOYD’S LIST: ONE HUNDRED PORTS 2023

Chattogram port slips three notches
DWAIPAYAN BARUA, Chattogram
Holding its rank among the busiest seaports worldwide could be compared to climbing an oiled bamboo for Chattogram port as it again slipped by three notches in Lloyd’s List: One Hundred Ports 2023.
After advancing three steps to 64th in last year’s edition of Lloyd’s List, Chattogram port has fallen back down to 67th among the 100 busiest global ports in terms of annual container movement.
The latest edition of the maritime intelligence journal was published last week, tallying up the annual container throughput figures of the world’s elite port facilities for 2022.
As per Lloyd’s List, Chattogram port handled about 3.14 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers in 2022, down 2.2 per cent from around 3.21 million TEUs the previous year.
Chattogram port had advanced in rankings for seven years straight since 2014, but it eventually slipped nine notches to 67th in the 2021 edition, mainly for reduced container traffic the year before.
This is because Bangladesh had seen a substantial decrease in outgoing shipments of garment items amid the coronavirus outbreak in 2020.
However, it bounced back by advancing three steps in 2022 by handling a record number of containers the year prior.
The port had ranked 58th in 2020, 64th in 2019, 70th in 2018, 71st in 2017, 76th in 2016, 87th in 2015 and 86th in 2014.
Regarding this year’s position in the global ranking, the journal remarked that the progress of Bangladesh’s premier seaport’s remains hindered by capacity limitations.
On the other hand, port officials reasoned it was for a decrease in foreign trade resulting from impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war that began in early 2022 and subsequent slowdown in imports later that year.
Md Omar Faruk, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority, said the reduction in container traffic was an impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis as well as restrictions on the import of luxury goods. However, overall cargo and ship handling at the port increased last year, he added.
Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Russia-Ukraine war slowed economic activities across the world and Bangladesh is no exception as the country saw a marked decline in export orders.
“Imports also fell significantly due to the acute US dollar crisis, which is evident in the shipping trade as container traffic has reduced,” he added.
Still, Alam is optimistic about a positive turn in the global economy in the coming future and emphasised on expediting port expansion projects, such as constructing the Bay Terminal.
As per Lloyd’s List, the post-pandemic boom that helped the global container port sector recuperate from Covid-induced 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 pre-Covid,” it said.
The 100 ports featured in the latest rankings achieved combined container volume growth of 1.5 per cent in 2022, with total liftings stacking up to 685.8 million TEUs.
The plus point of a more moderate demand picture was that it granted ports -- and container shipping in general -- much-needed respite from chronic congestion that had choked supply chains throughout 2021.
“With one challenge over, however, another began. Indeed, the operational landscape for the world’s top container ports did not get any easier in 2022,” the journal said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of the year triggered a massive shock to a global economy still reeling from the effects of the worst pandemic in a century, it added.