450 million stranded goods will be auctioned, and port congestion in many countries will intensify

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted international trade, raised transportation costs, and caused congestion at many ports around the world. In recent days, some new names have appeared on the list of these congested ports.

Abandoned goods worth Tk 450 crore to be auctioned

As sellers purchase large quantities of goods before Ramadan, Bangladesh's ports, which are the most congested in the world, have once again ushered in peak congestion. Survey data shows that more than 95 million people in Bangladesh believe in Islam, accounting for 88% of the total population, which has prompted a large number of Ramadan goods to flow into Bangladesh before the arrival of Ramadan.

However, the port congestion has worsened due to importers' failure to collect goods in time. In order to reduce congestion, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) warned importers that if the goods are not shipped away after 12 days of unloading from the ship , the storage fee will be doubled , but the warning does not seem to be taken seriously. On March 2, the CPA said it would adjust the storage fee again , and the decision will be implemented on March 8.

The CPA also said it will auction about 1,050 tonnes of unclaimed goods worth Tk 450 million to reduce port congestion. The auction will dispose of goods including furniture, clothing, fabrics, plastic products, hand sanitizers and food .

In addition, Bangladesh's maritime administration said it would strictly enforce the verified gross mass (VGM) requirement for containers and require port state control officers to verify the loading conditions in three stages when moving containers to ships.

Port congestion has a knock-on effect

According to foreign media reports, Singapore Port has experienced serious delays and congestion, resulting in ship turnaround time of up to a week. Previously, in January, the number of ships docking at Singapore Port for more than two days had increased to 46 per day, a year-on-year increase of 59%.

A combination of port congestion, unprecedented volatile freight demand, lack of available containers and a combination of factors have resulted in a knock-on effect, with North American East Coast prices (including priority loading) at $10,000 to $15,000 per FEU , about $6,000 to $8,000 higher than other major ports in Southeast Asia , such as Vietnam and Hong Kong.

In addition, data shows that major port and land traffic congestion at U.S. West Coast ports may continue into the summer peak season. It is reported that more than two dozen container ships have been piled up off the coast of Los Angeles for more than two weeks, these containers are full of exercise bikes, electronic products and other imported goods that are popular with consumers .

In fact, in today's world of e-commerce, even if life has begun to return to normal, shippers should not let their guard down, especially as several countries have begun to implement stimulus spending , which may trigger another wave of purchases, which may once again increase port congestion.

Bangladesh

Port congestion

Singapore