Trading yet to gear up in Khatunganj

Jul 07, 2023

Trader turnout remained poor at Khatunganj's wholesale hub for essential commodities while import cargo delivery low from the Chattogram port's outer anchorage yesterday although it stopped raining in the last two days following incessant downpours since last Thursday.

However, different upazilas in Chattogram still remain flooded while the Bay of Bengal turbulent.

Most low-lying areas in the port city were inundated for four consecutive days since last Friday but this year no waterlogging has been seen at the trading hub of Khatunganj.

This was owing to the trial operation of a few sluice gates which are being installed at the entrance of the Chaktai canal as a part of an ongoing project to combat waterlogging.

Traders said water this time did not enter the wholesale shops and warehouses but the trade had substantially fallen due to the incessant rain.

Though the rains have stopped since Tuesday evening vast areas in the southern and northern districts of Chattogram are still under flood waters, due to which traders were yet to turn up, leading to poor business at Khatunganj in the last two days.

Meher Traders, a wholesale firm of onion, garlic and ginger at Hamidullah Mia Market, usually sees sales of over 200 sacks of these goods on a normal day.

Md Ali Talukdar, proprietor of the firm, yesterday said there was no sale at his shop on the first four days of this week for the rains and trade resumed slightly since Wednesday.

Traders from southern areas like Chandanaish, Satkania, Chakaria and Cox's Bazar are their main clients and those areas are still under flood waters.

Traders from some nearby city markets have started showing up and in the last two days his firm could attain only 20 percent of their normal sales, informed Talukder.

Syed Sagir Ahmad, general secretary of the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said the wholesale trading hub housing around 5,000 big and small shops usually sees daily trade of around Tk 2,500 crore.

Now it has come down to only 20 percent to 30 percent of that, he said, hoping for the situation to get better next week once the weather became favourable.

Unloading of import cargoes from large ships at the outer anchorage of the Chattogram port resumed partially since Wednesday noon on staying suspended for five days due to the downpour and for cautionary signal number 3 remaining in place.

Officials of Water Transport Cell, a private organisation that deals with the business of a portion of lighterage vessels at the port, said some lighterage vessels went out to the outer anchorage to bring cargo from bigger ships after the rains stopped.

But the workers were able to unload goods only during low tide because the sea was still turbulent during high tide, they said.

At least 46 big vessels carrying around 15 lakh tonnes of import cargo were anchored at the outer anchorage as of yesterday. At least 35 out of these ships had been sitting idle for the past five days till Wednesday morning due to the inclement weather.

Unloading of goods from these ships partially resumed over the last two days.

Seacom Shipping is the local agent of five of the vessels that have been sitting idle for the past five days till Tuesday.

Officials said unloading of goods has resumed from three of them so far.

Out of the five vessels, MV Amis Brave carrying 59,000 tonnes of slag, imported for the Premier Cement factory, arrived on July 23. It has been sitting idle since last Thursday with only 1,800 tonnes of cargo left on board.

It was possible to unload the cargo from the vessel on Wednesday and it left on the same day.

Seacom Shipping Managing Director Zahur Ahmad said the importer had to count at least $15,000 as demurrage for each day of additional stay of the vessel.

Importers of most of the other ships faced the same demurrage, he said.