Fuel price hike impact reaches port
Collected Photo
The impact of the fuel price hike has also reached Chattogram Port. The Berth Operators Association has demanded an increase in the rates for container handling at the port’s general jetties due to the higher fuel prices. The operators handle 29 percent of container loading and unloading at six jetties of the port. The equipment used for container handling at the jetties runs on diesel. As a result, they are now facing difficulties due to the increase in diesel prices.
If container handling rates are increased, the impact will be felt by ordinary consumers across the country. In import dependent Bangladesh, the higher costs will affect all sectors, from food products to machinery for industrial factories.
On Monday, Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Berth Operators, Terminal Operators and Ship Handling Operators Association, sent a letter to Chattogram Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman, demanding an adjustment of the rates. A copy of the letter was also sent to the port authority’s Transport Department director.
The organization leaders said that when they received the container handling contract through a tender in 2022, the price of diesel was Tk 80 per liter. Last Sunday, it increased to Tk 135. Since then, fuel prices have increased by about 69 percent. Despite repeated demands over the past four years, the rates have not been adjusted in line with fuel prices.
Abu Sharif, owner of container jetty operator FQ Khan and Sons, said, “Every time fuel prices increase, we demand an adjustment from the port. But we receive no response. Without an adjustment, it is not possible for us to continue berth operations at the rates set under the existing contract.”
Several berth operators said that although the increased fuel prices have already been adjusted in other sectors of the country, the matter remains pending in the port sector. They called for immediate revision of container handling rates in line with the higher fuel costs.
However, although they have demanded an increase in container handling rates, no one has demanded an adjustment of the rates for handling goods at the six general cargo berths.
