The delivery of import cargo from Chattogram port as well as private off docks has been sharply impacted by a countrywide two-day blockade that ended yesterday.

Daily deliveries dropped by over 32 percent on the first day of the blockade.

Meanwhile, container handling, meaning loading and unloading of import and export-laden containers onto and from ships in port jetties, also fell significantly.

Deliveries were expected to pick up a bit by yesterday afternoon as the port officials informed that a good number of vehicles had entered the port to take deliveries since yesterday morning.

Port users said most importers based in Dhaka and other parts of the country preferred to refrain from taking away their imported cargo on Sunday, the first day of the blockade, apprehending obstacles on highways.

There was also a scarcity of transport, leading to a plunge in daily deliveries.

According to data from the traffic department of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), 1,434 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of import-laden containers were delivered from different port yards in 24 hours since 8:00am on Sunday.

In contrast it was 2,134 TEUs a day before, which was a weekend.

On Thursday last week, when a three-day blockade ended, it stood at 4,859 TEUs.

Several clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents informed that importers had asked them to not process the delivery of their import cargo from the port yard on Sunday.

Kamruzzaman Sagor, proprietor of ABS Corporation, told The Daily Star they stopped taking delivery of around 9 tonnes of fabrics imported by a Gazipur-based garment manufacturer.

The importer, Far East Knitting and Dying Industry Ltd, did not want to take the risk, he said.

As the importer finally gave the go-ahead yesterday morning, the C&F agent started processing the release of those cargo and accordingly sent four covered vans to the port.

Sagor said many importers feared there would be an extension of the blockade from today again and that is why there was an influx of people since yesterday noon pressing to get goods released from the port.

A portion of import-laden containers are transferred to 19 private inland container depots (ICDs) or off docks, from where the cargoes are delivered to consignees.

Such import deliveries from the ICDs also dropped by 46 per cent on Sunday, the first day of the blockade.

Import cargoes of a total of 388 TEUs were delivered from 19 ICDs in 24 hours since Sunday morning.

It was 714 TEUs the day before.

In addition, container handling at the port jetties dropped to 6,771 TEUs in 24 hours since Sunday morning.

It was 9,141 TEUs on the previous day.

Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, former first vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said supply chain disruptions would be a double blow to the export-oriented garment sector.

The sector is already witnessing a drop in work orders, he said.

If the delivery of imported raw materials from the port faces any delay, it affects the timely shipment of products and consequently affects the confidence global buyers have on local manufacturers, he added.

The also exporter said export and import activities need to be kept out of the purview of any blockades that disrupt supply chains.