Steel Scrap at Chattogram: Lighterage Serial, Barge Alongside and SOF

Practical position. Steel scrap discharge at Chattogram often runs through lighterage at outer anchorage. Barge serial, sea state and coaster supply control progress more than a jetty slot on paper.

Don't confuse this with ship recycling, that's a different trade entirely, governed by the Hong Kong Convention and the Sitakunda beaching yards we've covered elsewhere on this blog. This is about steel scrap as cargo: heavy melting scrap, shredded scrap, and re-rolling-grade material arriving by bulk carrier for Bangladesh's steel mills, which run almost entirely on imported feedstock since the country has no significant iron ore of its own. Cargo acceptance and clearance depend on the exact description, HS or UN details where applicable, manifest and bill-of-lading data, receiver or C&F readiness, terminal rules and current Customs or competent-authority instructions. Lighterage and discharge parameters depend on draft, weather and receiver readiness; confirm before stem.

One jetty, and it only takes one or two ships at a time

Chittagong's dedicated scrap-carrying jetty is explicitly limited to one or two vessels at a time according to port authority practice, a genuinely tight constraint compared to the multiple bulk berths available for clinker or grain. If your vessel arrives and finds that jetty already occupied, you're not getting a quick alternative slot; you're waiting, or your cargo is going via lighterage vessel to the outer anchorage instead.

Lighterage is the realistic default, same as clinker

For the same reasons covered in our clinker piece, limited bulk jetty capacity against high bulk-carrier volume, most scrap cargo that doesn't get a direct jetty slot ends up discharging via lighterage vessel at the outer anchorage. Scrap metal isn't gentle cargo for this kind of transfer; grab-crane handling between mother vessel and lighter risks cargo damage and contamination claims if it's not properly supervised, and a charterer should confirm who's responsible for stevedore supervision during that transfer, not just at the final jetty discharge.

Buyer creditworthiness matters more in this trade than most

Bangladesh's re-rolling mills are a genuinely fragmented industry, a large number of smaller operators alongside a handful of bigger groups, and the receivers at the smaller end can be slower and less reliable on payment than a clinker importer backed by a major cement group. Slow consignee clearance of customs dues is a recognized driver of vessel waiting time at Chittagong generally, and it's worth asking pointed questions about your specific buyer's track record before you fix, rather than assuming all scrap receivers operate the same way.

What actually delays scrap discharge

Beyond jetty/lighter availability, customs classification on scrap metal carries its own friction, HS code disputes between "scrap for melting" and other steel product categories can trigger inspection holds that a clean bulk commodity like wheat wouldn't face. Weather matters here too: scrap cargo handling at the jetty side stops during rain just like any other bulk operation, and the March-to-May storm season adds its own unpredictability on top of routine congestion.

What we'd check before fixing

Confirm the scrap jetty's current occupancy and queue position specifically, not the port's general congestion figure, which won't reflect a single-purpose berth this constrained. Ask about the receiving mill's payment history if your agent or broker has visibility into it. And build lighterage and potential cargo-damage supervision costs into your voyage estimate rather than assuming a direct berth call.