Summit Alliance handling cargo at Muktarpur terminal

With pioneering, timely and cost-effective service, Summit Alliance Port Ltd (SAPL) facilitated Bangladesh's spinning mills and the ready-made garment (RMG) sectors by providing a much-needed alternative logistics solution for their vital industrial raw material, especially break-bulk raw cotton from India.

The inland river route from Kolkata to Muktarpur provides an unparalleled safe passage for the raw cotton cargo throughout the year that is a guaranteed and time-bound option which is not possible on the traditional sea route for container shipments or via land ports.

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A total of 3,536 tonnes of break-bulk raw cotton consignments have been received at SAPL Muktarpur Terminal from India while 18 other cotton carrying vessels are in the pipeline.

In 2021, Bangladesh imported 8.5 million bales of cotton weighing approximately 1.85 million tonnes and this figure is projected to cross 9 million bales in the current year due to the strong rise in demand for yarn and fabrics from local RMG exporters.

"This new service by SAPL Muktarpur Terminal comes at a time when the Bangladeshi raw cotton importers who are finding it challenging to import from traditional sources such as Central Asia, Brazil, the US and West Africa due to the disruption in global supply-chain, unavailability of containers and historically high freight-rates. As a result, the market demand for raw cotton from India has increased tremendously in the last few years," said Jowher Rizvi, managing director of SAPL.

"We are supporting the industries by providing alternative and environmentally sustainable sourcing while avoiding regular congestion at the land ports," he added.