Holiday slowdown affects Pakistan & Bangladesh

Imports and exports of cement and raw materials through some of Pakistan and Bangladesh’s key ports have been disrupted since 25 July 2014 due to the Eid ul-Fitr festival and seasonal holidays.

Both governments have officially declared 4-5 days holiday for the Eid festivities but offline periods have been stretched due to weekly holidays as well.

Pakistan
The partial suspension of loading operations at Karachi Port and Port Qasim have affected the export of about 55,000t of cement from Pakistan. Meanwhile, a foreign vessel is yet to complete the offloading of imported coal at Karachi port.

Domestic dispatches in Pakistan have also been disrupted across the country due to the holidays.

Normal business is expected to resume from the first week of August, a local industry official has said.

Bangladesh
Meanwhile, operations at Chittagong Port as well as Monogla Port have remained idle since last Friday. Exports and imports to India through the land ports of Benapole and Akhaura have also remained suspended for a number of consecutive days. Operations are expected to resume on 31 July but are due to halt again over the 2-3 August due to holidays.

More than 40 vessels waiting to load and offload cargo are inside Chittagong port at different berths and a large number of vessels with imported goods/containers and to lift cargo are outside Chittagong Port anchorage areas. Four vessels with 200,000t of clinker at Chittagong Port are waiting to berth and offload cargo.