The Chittagong Port Authority’s (CPA) first-ever hike in port in four decades, which averaged a 41% increase, has sent shockwaves through Bangladesh’s shipping and logistics industry like a boulder thrown into its maritime and logistics sector

According to Breakbulk.News, the increase took effect at midnight on October 14, 2025, prompting shipping companies to introduce new sur, causing grave concerns among exporters and trade associations.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company was among the first to announce a Port Cost Recovery (PCR) surcharge of $00 to $200 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), effective October 16. Dry containers were to be charged $100, reefer $150, and IMO standard cargo $200. The company said the fee was applicable to all destinations except for the USA and Far East trade lanes, and it meant to offset “a significant increase in local costs.” Maersk followed suit, increasing its Terminal Handling Charge (THC) to $165 for a 0-foot container and $310 for a 40-foot container. CMA CGM and its regional partners CNC and ANL, meanwhile, introduced the Cost Recovery Surcharge (ECRS) of $45 for a 20-foot dry container, $70 for a 40-foot container, with rates for reefer, oversized, and dangerous cargo.

It was the “domino effect” that the shippers had both anticipated and feared. “It is to think that shipping lines will not pass on the cost when port tariffs go up by 40%,” said a freight forwarder in Dhaka. “It is always shipper who ends up paying.”

The CPA’s rate adjustment affected 23 of the port’s 52 services. The container handling alone increased by 37%, with the cost of a 20-foot container going up from Tk11,849 to Tk16,23. Import containers would see an additional charge of Tk5,720 per unit, while export containers would attract an additional Tk3,045. There also a sharp increase in vessel waiting charges for vessels delayed by more than 36 hours, with the maximum increase at 900%.

The I now estimates that Chittagong, once one of the most affordable ports in the region, has become the second most expensive, with average handling and storage charges per container having risen $126 to about $186.

The Bangladesh Shipping Agents’ Association (BSAA) and other trade bodies are urging the government to reconsider, the timing could not be worse. The ready-made garment (RMG) industry, which accounts for over 80% of total exports, is already grappling with high material costs, sluggish global demand, and the impending expiration of Least Developed Country (LDC) trade preferences in 2026. “There is no buffer in our profit margin,” said one RMG exporter. “Every dollar increase in port charges means a dollar less in our competitiveness.”

Despite a-long deadlock with industry groups, shipping consultant (retd) Brig M. Sahwat Hussain confirmed that the rate hike will go ahead as planned. Md Omaruk of the Chittagong Port Authority reiterated that shipping agents must now obtain no-objection certificates only after proving that sufficient funds are deposited to pay the new rates.

To many in the trade, it feels like the country’s logistics costs are going up at a time when global markets are tightening. As one freight forwarder put:“You can't ship at yesterday's price when tomorrow's rate is already on your bill.”