Dwaipayan Barua

Another direct container shipping service between Chattogram and two European ports is going to be introduced next month while initiatives are underway for launching direct services connecting a few more destinations in the European Union (EU).

A Singapore-bound container vessel has remained stranded in the Bay of Bengal for the last seven days on sustaining damage in a collision with an oil tanker, leading to uncertainties over shipment of its cargo.

The government has set an ambitious economic growth target of 7.5 per cent for the next fiscal year although the country faces new headwinds owing to higher prices of commodities globally and is still recovering from the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank yesterday advised the government to reconsider its decision to dip into the foreign exchange reserves for development projects given the elevated balance of payment deficit and the need for exchange rate flexibility.

Bangladesh is not at risk of the crisis that Sri Lanka is currently facing, but the country needs to be cautious and learn from the experiences of the island nation, said Hans Timmer, chief economist of the World Bank for South Asia.

A new weekly China-Bangladesh container vessel service will make its debut in the last week of this month, creating an opportunity to quicken the country’s import and export trade.

Bangladesh’s debt service to revenue ratio rocketed to 81.2 per cent in the last fiscal year amid lower tax collection and higher borrowing, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Pacific Jeans Group, one of the fastest-growing garment exporters in Bangladesh, could rake in $500 million in export earnings in the current fiscal year as its apparel shipment grows steadily.

The current account deficit in Bangladesh is expected to widen to 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year from 0.9 per cent a year ago because of escalating imports and a decline in remittance.

The World Bank has extended a $250 million financing to Bangladesh in budgetary support after the country has moved to bring in fiscal and financial reforms to strengthen policies to sustain growth and enhance resilience to future shocks.

Container storage rent at the Chattogram port from tomorrow could quadrupled for stays of excessive periods as Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) looks to force importers to promptly take deliveries and free up space.

A section of traders is cashing in on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war to hike  prices of essentials that were already becoming costlier, market  insiders said.  

Russia and Ukraine-bound exports, especially garments, are now faced with an uncertain future as shipping lines are understandably not too eager to carry goods to war zones.

Twenty-eight Bangladeshi sailors were evacuated from the Banglar Samriddhi yesterday and taken to a safe shelter in Ukraine.

Development spending in Bangladesh rose 17 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, highlighting the momentum in the economic recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown.

Global ports and terminal operator APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Danish shipping company AP Moller Maersk, has expressed interest in developing and operating the under-construction Patenga Container Terminal of the Chattogram port.

The prospect of direct container shipping from Chittagong Port to European destinations is widening as at least four more countries have expressed interest in directly transporting goods by sea from Chattogram to Europe.

Shipping lines in Bangladesh have expressed concern over some provisions in the recently published policy for private inland container depots (ICDs), citing that certain measures may cause adversities in running operations.

Singer has been operating in Bangladesh for 117 years and is growing at a healthy pace. Currently, the company is putting emphasis on brick-and-mortar sales as well as fast-expanding digital commerce in order to serve the current generations. Singer Bangladesh Ltd Managing Director & Chief Executive MHM Fairoz shares his company’s plans on investment, expansion and digital customers during an interview with The Daily Star recently.  

A direct waterborne service has been introduced between the Chattogram port and an Italian port, paving the way for opening up prospects for faster and cheaper direct container shipping from Bangladesh to Europe.