The Chattogram port posted a 5.36 percent year-on-year growth in container handling in the just concluded 2023-24 fiscal year.

The port handled 31.69 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, including import, export and empty ones in FY24, up from 30.07 lakh TEUs in the previous fiscal, according to data provided by the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA).

The figure was prepared by calculating the number of containers loaded and unloaded at the main jetties of the port, Pangaon Inland Container Terminal at Keraniganj and Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in Dhaka, said CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk.

The overall increase in container handling in the concluded fiscal year is a testimony to the rise of foreign trade in Bangladesh, overcoming the downtrend caused by the global economic turmoil amidst the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

The overall increase in handling of cargo and container in the concluded fiscal year is a testimony to the rise of foreign trade in Bangladesh, said CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk

Different types of commercial items, commodity, machineries, chemical products and raw materials of all industries except cement and ceramics sector are imported through containers while export goods are solely carried through containers.

Overall handling of cargo -- containerised and bulk -- experienced 4.18 percent year-on-year growth in FY24.

The port handled a record 12.32 crore tonnes of cargo in FY24, up from 11.83 crore tonnes in the previous year.

The authority is making continuous efforts to enhance the port's capacity and efficiency by expanding yard and equipment facilities, the CPA secretary added.

The port's container storage capacity was increased and different new equipment are also being added, he said.

The port saw a 7.62 percent year-on-year drop in container handling in FY23 after handling a record 32.55 lakh TEUs in FY22, which represented 5.11 percent year-on-year growth.

Container handling grew 3.1 percent year-on-year in FY21, 2.92 percent in FY20 and 3.9 percent in FY19.

The total volume of containers handled in FY21 was 30.97 lakh TEUs compared to 30.04 lakh TEUs in FY20 and 29.19 lakh TEUs in FY19.