Two private inland container depots (ICDs) are going to be set up soon in Chittagong to handle around 1 lakh twenty equivalent feet containers a year to meet the growing demand for such depots.
Industry insiders say the demand for container terminals is increasing since overseas shipping companies are reluctant to carry cargoes in bulk.
Even products such as rice, wheat and pulses are imported through container carriers, they said.
Two Chittagong-based business conglomerates -- Chittagong Agrabad Hotel group and KDS Group -- have received government approvals to establish the ICDs at a total cost of around Tk 160 crore.
KDS group will establish its ICD at the site of now closed Hafiz Jute Mills on around 30 acres of land at Bara Aulia on the outskirts of Chittagong city.
The Agrabad Hotel group's container terminal port will be set up on 12 acres of land at North Kattali in Chittagong.
Some existing inland container depot operators meanwhile plan to expand their capacity to handle more containers.
An official of a leading private container operator Shafi Motors Ltd said his company will set up another container terminal in Chittagong this year.
Private operators Summit, Isahaq Brothers and HRC also have similar expansion plans.
Now, nine private container terminals handle around 40 percent of the business while Chittagong Port and Dhaka Inland Container Depot handle the rest.
Nipur Chowdhury, general manager of proposed Mostafa Hakim Container Yard, a concern of Chittagong Agrabad Hotel group, said the demand of the container terminal is increasing.
"We have conducted a study on the increasing demand for container terminals and found that if another 10 container depots are established these could be viable," Nipur added.
Chittagong Port alone handled around 9.58 lakh containers in 2007 against 6.24 lakh in 2003.