ICDs overwhelmed with export containers

Privately operated inland container depots (ICDs) are grappling with a mounting backlog of export-laden containers, hampering cargo handling operations and pushing storage capacity to the brink.

Operators say the logjam is the result of an unexpected surge in export volumes in July. The problem was further exacerbated by delays in dispatching containers to the port as vessels stayed for longer than usual at jetties over the past month due to a number of disruptions, including a nationwide strike by revenue officials, weeks of customs server disruptions and work abstentions by prime mover operators.

According to the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), the country's 19 ICDs were handling 16,390 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of export containers as of Monday, which more than double their usual comfortable capacity of 7,000 to 8,000 TEUs.

BICDA data also show that the ICDs altogether transported a total of 81,135 TEUs of export containers to the port in the month of July, the highest since January, when they handled 70,338 TEUs of containers.

Transport of export containers to the port also faced delays due to the unavailability of vessels at jetties caused by berthing delay, creating a backlog at the ICDs

The volume of export load containers transported from the ICDs to the port every month in the first half of this year was far lower.

In the last calendar year of 2024, the monthly average for the volume of export containers transported from the ICDs to the port stood at 62,546 TEUs.

BICDA Secretary General Md Ruhul Amin Sikder said, "The ICDs usually handle 60,000 to 70,000 TEUs of export containers in a month. But in July, the ICDs saw a noticeable surge in the volume of exports."

"In spite of such a surge, the ICDs managed to handle the additional volume of exports, transported those containers to the port and did not miss that many shipments," Sikder claimed.

According to the officials of several ICDs, apart from the 81,000 TEUs processed and shipped in July, the depots received additional export cargoes and stuffed those into around 18,000 TEUs of containers.

Dous Mohammad, chief executive officer of Portlink Logistics, one of the leading ICDs, said, "The sudden surge in the volume of exports was the main reason behind the pileup of export containers."

Moreover, transport of export containers to the port also faced delays due to the unavailability of vessels at jetties caused by berthing delay, creating a backlog at the ICDs, he added.

A major portion of these export shipments consisted of readymade garments (RMG).

Mohammad said due to uncertainties over an exorbitant hike in tariffs by the US, which is supposed to come into effect from August 7, many RMG owners sent their US-bound export cargoes to the ICDs well ahead of their delivery dates.

The aim was to ship the goods before the higher rate of tariff came into effect, which also added to the surge in the volume of exports, he said.

Khairul Alam Suzan, former vice president of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, was of the same opinion.

"Many US buyers urged the Bangladeshi suppliers to ship their cargo before the August 1 timeline to avoid the additional tariff," he said.

He, however, said RMG exports usually surge between June and August every year, eyeing the winter market in the West.

Sikder of BICDA said such congestion was hampering cargo handling operations inside the ICDs but the depots were trying hard to ensure that shipments were made on time.