Bangladesh sea and air freight update 26/09/22

Bangladeshi garment manufacturers are seeking to boost business with Gulf countries amid a sales slowdown in their traditional export destinations such as the US and EU. The apparel sector in the Gulf is currently dominated by China, India and Pakistan. Garment exporters’ association eyes a $2 billion stake in the GCC market.

Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of garment items worldwide after China with a 6.8 per cent global market share. Although Bangladesh depends on imports for cotton, a key raw material for textile, the country is fast becoming a major source for yarn and fabrics for textile and garment producers. Yarn, fabrics and waste yarn worth $80.48 million were exported from Bangladesh in the July to November period, registering a 38.73 per cent year-on-year growth.

Sea freight and Chittagong port update

• Operations and navigation at the Port of Colombo resumed yesterday following a two-day hiatus for ongoing political unrest in Sri Lanka, albeit bringing temporary relief to Bangladesh's exporters, freight forwarders and shipping firms
• Freight forwarders in Bangladesh have raised forwarding charges by 57% for each import bill, blaming fuel oil prices in the domestic market. Importers are the primary payee of the additional forwarding costs, which will raise the price of imported goods at a consumer level, while the export industry will also suffer, as raw material sourcing will cost more
• The Chittagong Port Authority on Wednesday informed that they had completed all the preparations, including land acquisition and design, to start the construction works of the Bay Terminal in Chattogram from January 2023. At present, ships with a maximum draft of 9.5 meters and a maximum length of 190 meters can berth in the jetties of the port in an average of four hours during high tide. However, ships of 200 meters length and 10 meters draft can be accommodated at the bay terminal
• Vessel Berthing condition: Only 5 vessels are waiting at outer anchorage. Recently vessel quantities are decreasing at outer anchorage specially high draft vessels at NCT. At the same time some of vessels have still malfunction issues for which sailing date is postponed as well as hampering the entire operation cycle

Air freight and Dhaka airport update

• Demand has slightly increased for Air market compared to last week, largely driven by the approaching month end and pre-holiday rush. DAC air market also at slight upward mood but space is stable to most trade lanes; airline’s hubs are indicating that space is slightly tight due to large number of passengers movement in US region. Disruption and delays might still occur in major US, Canada & European hubs because of heavy travel season. Inflation kept playing a major role in global volume movements; reduced purchasing power. Ukraine and Russia war situation are still worsening, and an impact is continuing on market demand. BD RMG sectors are having less order compared to the forecast due to inflation in EU market
• Airspaces closure continues- EU, UK, US among others closed airspaces for Russian airlines and vice-versa; increased transit times. While some carriers are  canceling a few passenger freighters to offset costs and restrained  Rates have increased a bit over last week but are overall maintaining a steady levels. PAX capacity continued to improve due to high travel demand. Capacity is opening up further, especially into Europe, where most carriers have increased the number of passenger flights for their summer schedules. With moderate demand and recovering capacity, we are likely to see an aggressive spot market on most trade lanes. DAC air market also having spot rates and deferred options considering volume and loadable capacity

For any enquiries regarding specific bookings, please contact our Customer teams.