Staff Correspondent:

The Chittagong Port has handled a record number of containers in the recently ended fiscal year.

Despite the protest movement staged by the NBR employees in several rounds, and different global crises, the increase in container handling has been quite positive, experts say.

The port authorities said that cargo (open goods) handling and the number of ships docking at the port have increased as well.

More than 3.2 million TEU cargoes (each measured in 20-foot equivalent units) were handled at the port in the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ended on Monday. The figure was slightly higher than 3.1 million in the previous fiscal year.

Accordingly, container handling increased by 4.02 percent at the port in the last fiscal year.

Port officials said that the amount of container handling in 2024-25 surpassed the previous year’s 15 days before the end of the fiscal year.

In the fiscal year 2022-23, container handling, including imports and exports, was 3 million TEUs, and in 2021-22, it was 3.2 million TEUs. That was the highest amount of container handling in a fiscal year at the Chittagong Port.

Chittagong Port Secretary Md Omar Faruk told journalist “A record number of containers were handled in the last fiscal year. Despite the customs strike and various crises, the increase in container handling is positive. If these crises were not there, the numer of containers handled would have been even higher.”

“This achievement was made possible with the cooperation of all officers, employees and stakeholders.”

The port handled as many as 130 million tonnes of open goods in the last fiscal year. It stood at 120 million tonnes in 2023-24. The growth in cargo handling is 6.07 percent.

A total of 4,077 ships docked at the port during this period. In 2023-24, the number of ships was 3,971.