No export-import trade at Teknaf land port for 10 months

Teknaf land portFile photo

The Teknaf land port has been closed for exports from Bangladesh to Myanmar for the past 10 months, causing significant hardships for local traders and reducing revenue collection at the port. 

According to the local customs authority, the land port generated Tk 641 million in revenue during the first five months of the current fiscal year (July-November), which marks a significant drop from Tk 2.51 billion collected during the same period in the previous 2023-24 fiscal year.

Customs officials and import-export traders blamed the ongoing conflict between junta forces and rebel group Arakan Army (AA) in Myanmar for the disruption in export-import trade.

Ehteshamul Haque Bahadur, general secretary of the Teknaf land port C&F agent association, said cargo trawlers and ships have stopped operating between Bangladesh and Myanmar since February, completely halting exports from Bangladesh.

Imports and exports with Maungdaw have been stopped completely, while there have been limited imports from Akyab and Yangon.

This prolonged stalemate has caused significant hardships for port-based importers and exporters, said Bahadur.

According to traders, trade through the land port began in 1995, but the authorities are yet to launch a letter of credit (LC) facility for the traders at the port.

The border trades are now carried out here through foreign demand draft (FDD). The traders suffered a lot when the dollar exchange rate increased to a significant extent in December last year, along with a supply shortage.  

According to customs data, the port collected nearly Tk 70 million in revenue in July 2024, Tk 250 million in August, Tk 91 million in September, 70 million in October, and 161 million in November. In contrast, revenue figures for the same months in 2023 were significantly higher, ranging from Tk 400 to 660 million monthly.

The import volume at the port has also plummeted significantly during the period. Between July and November this year, only 8,398 metric tonnes of goods were imported, against 45,814 metric tonnes during the same period in the previous fiscal year. It indicates a decline of Tk 4.73 billion, with imports falling from Tk 5.56 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year to Tk 840 million only in 2024-25.

AHS Alamgir, manager of United Land Port which operates the landport, said some 30 to 35 cargo trawlers and ships used to arrive from Myanmar daily, and it has now reduced to one or two per week.

Similarly, eight to ten cargo trawlers used to carry goods from Bangladesh to Myanmar daily, but it has now reduced to zero in the last ten months. 

Bangladesh usually imports wood, frozen fish, dried betel nuts, ginger, dried fishes, coconuts, and pickles from Myanmar, while the outgoing products include potatoes, plastic products, ready-made garments, biscuits, snacks, and soft drinks.

In this regard, BM Abdullah Al Masum, a customs official of the port, said traders are failing to import goods from Myanmar as per their needs, and goods from Myanmar are not arriving either. As a result, revenue collection has dropped significantly.