Bangladesh imported more containers than it could refill. Empty boxes are crowding its depots.

A record gap between container imports and exports is leaving thousands of empty boxes at private depots and Chattogram Port, reducing space available for export cargo.

Chattogram Port Authority data show imports exceeded exports by 329,996 twenty-foot equivalent units in fiscal 2026, up from 177,832 units in fiscal 2022. Bangladesh’s 24 private inland container depots, with combined capacity of about 106,000 units, are holding 56,565 units of empty containers.

The port authority has asked the National Board of Revenue to allow shipping agents to store empty containers at suitable non-bonded locations.

Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association, said official figures understate the imbalance because they count empty containers as exports.

“The country’s real export volume is nearly half of its imports,” Sikder said.

Industry officials said shipping lines delay moving empty containers because they generate less revenue than loaded boxes.