Inadequate feeder services may result in cotton shortage in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi textile millers fear a massive shortage of cotton in the coming months, as shipping lines seem ‘unwilling’ to carry Chittagong-bound cargo owing to a shortage of feeder vessels.

Bangladeshi textile millers fear a massive shortage of cotton in the coming months, as shipping lines seem ‘unwilling’ to carry Chittagong-bound cargo owing to a shortage of feeder vessels.

Mother vessels wait in transhipment ports, but feeder services are inadequate and fail to reach them in time, as per said Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). With no deep-sea port, Bangladeshi textile exports and imports are dependent on feeder vessels carrying containers to and from Singapore, Port Klang, Colombo ports and the Bangladeshi ports of Chittagong and Mongla.

Khokon said that, while container handling at Chittagong had seen significant growth in the past two years, the number of feeder vessels had not increased by the same ratio. Cotton imports come from India, the US, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Syria, Australia and some African countries. There are around 85 feeder vessels to carry containers between Bangladeshi seaports and regional transhipment hubs. Khokon fears the local textile and apparel industries might face an acute shortage of raw materials.

In a meeting with the civil aviation authority, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Faruque Hassan has asked for better facilities at airports to facilitate the successful delivery of apparel orders. He urged the civil aviation authority to adopt more modern equipment to improve cargo handling processes at the airport and the BGMEA called for a reduction in scanning charges, an increase in cargo handling staff and more equipment and machinery.

Hassan, at a meeting with railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan last week, demanded more rail tracks, upgrading the single line to a double track and to convert the rail lines into dual gauge. He also urged the minister for to speed-up the development of the inland rail container depot in Gazipur district, a Dhaka suburb.

Source: The Loadstar

Image Source: Google Images

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