Dwaipayan Barua

A project on the construction of Chattogram City Outer Ring Road -- that was taken around ten years back in 2011 with four-year completion period -- is yet to be completed.

Incidents of ships colliding and running aground at the Chattogram port’s outer anchorage are alarmingly recurring, which officials and customers apprehend could tarnish the image of Bangladesh’s premier harbour in global shipping business.

The government is likely to downsize its income and expenditure targets in the revised budget because of lower revenue growth, slower implementation of development programmes and a fall in spending due to the pandemic.

A joint venture company that includes China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been awarded the Cox’s Bazar airport runway expansion work for Tk 1,568.86 crore.

Bangladesh is set to send 50,000 tonnes of its imported urea fertiliser to Nepal at the import price to help the landlocked country, which failed to purchase the organic compound on time due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Freight charges have risen in the last few weeks due to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the global shipping sector, pushing the cost for importers and exporters in Bangladesh, industry people said.

Feeder vessel operators have imposed a surcharge on carrying containers between Chattogram and hub ports, saying severe congestion at the hubs is resulting in overstays and an increase in operational costs.

Bangladesh’s global trade pulled itself out of the debris left in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic aided domestic consumption, taking the volume of cargoes handled by the Chattogram port in October to a seven-month high.

Bangladesh’s steel sector needs business friendly policy support from the government in order to overcome the Covid-19 fallouts, according to Aameir Alihussain, managing director of BSRM, a leading steel manufacturer.

Businesses are counting massive losses as almost 22 lakh tonnes of goods have been waiting to be unloaded for two days at sea and river ports across the country.

Funds from the government’s stimulus packages need to be effectively disbursed in a hassle-free manner to help local businesses recover from the Covid-19 fallout as soon as possible, said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

Unloading of imported bulk cargo from cargo vessels at the outer anchorage of the Chattogram port remained suspended since the early hours of yesterday as water transport workers enforced countrywide indefinite work abstention to press home their 11-point demand.

The mandatory provision for obtaining waiver certificates 15 days before loading any cargo as per the Flag Vessel (protection) Act 2019 has caused trouble for foreign container feeder vessels at Chattogram port.

Relative normalcy returned to the Chattogram port yesterday after three days of disruptions to unloading of import shipments from cargo vessels berthed at the outer anchorage for rough seas and heavy rain.

The commerce ministry has once again decided to go for open market sales (OMS) of onion in Dhaka to tame the kitchen staple’s spiralling prices.

Onion prices marked a sharp rise in the kitchen markets of the port city in the last two days following a sudden hike in the wholesale market at Khatunganj where traders are citing the excuse of it being a ripple effect from neighbouring India.

Chattogram sea port has advanced six steps in a year in terms of annual traffic of containers in 2019, according to Lloyd’s List, the world’s oldest journal on ports and shipping.

The prices of edible oil both at the wholesale and retail markets in the port city have been on the rise for the last three weeks, putting an extra burden on consumers already distraught by the spiralling prices of other food items including vegetables.

The container ship that missed its scheduled departure from Chattogram port on Sunday morning after it was found to be listing to the starboard side, at last, left the port yesterday afternoon.

A container ship that was listing to its starboard side while anchored at Chattogram port on Sunday returned to equilibrium the following day but is yet to be cleared for departure, making exporters anxious about their cargo.