Bangladesh's cement industry is facing a serious bottleneck in importing raw materials. The lack of enough small barges in the anchorages around the Chattogram to unload the bulk cargo has made it difficult to unload the imported clinker, resulting in delays in the supply of raw materials and adding more pressure to the already congested logistics chain. The Bangladesh Shipping Association pointed out that large cargo ships berthed offshore are facing persistent difficulties in unloading.
Importers have been accused of using the barge as a floating storage facility and failing to release it to other users in a timely manner, adding to port congestion. To make matters worse, most barges do not have their own cranes and lack onboard lifting equipment, further slowing cargo handling operations. According to industry sources, about 720 barges carrying a total of about 1.1 million tons of imported goods are currently stuck in rivers and inland waterways, transporting various necessities and industrial raw materials including cement clinker, gypsum, coal, fly ash, urea, edible oil, sugar, beans and stone. Mohammed Meheb Kabir, Secretary-General of the Bangladesh Cargo Shipowners Association, said the problem was exacerbated by the usual rise in imports before Ramadan, which is approaching this month. He noted that some importers intentionally delayed unloading and stored their goods in their own facilities, further limiting the availability of barges. Data from the Chittagong Port Authority on January 21 showed that there were about 134 ships in the outer anchorage, including several ships carrying cement clinker, and only some of them were actively unloading.
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