APM Terminals starts $550 million Laldia build to expand Chattogram capacity

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APM Terminals has started construction of the $550 million Laldia Container Terminal at Chattogram Port, advancing a project designed to add more than 800,000 TEU of annual capacity and allow Bangladesh’s main maritime gateway to receive container ships of up to 6,000 TEU.

Ground was broken at Laldia Char in Patenga on August 30, moving the project from concession and planning into construction. The terminal is scheduled to become operational in 2030.

The development is being undertaken with the Chittagong Port Authority and local partner QNS Container Services Ltd under a public private partnership linked to a government to government framework between Bangladesh and Denmark.

APM Terminals will design, finance, build and operate the facility. The Chittagong Port Authority will retain ownership of the port asset.

The project follows a 30 year concession agreement signed in November 2025, with provisions for an extension linked to performance targets.

Laldia is expected to provide more than 800,000 TEU of additional annual container handling capacity when fully operational, providing Chattogram with additional room as Bangladesh’s international trade continues to expand.

The impact will extend beyond headline capacity numbers. Chattogram currently handles container vessels of around 2,700 to 2,800 TEU. Laldia is being designed for ships of up to 6,000 TEU, more than doubling the size of vessels that can be accommodated.

Larger ships could reduce the number of vessel calls required to move a given volume of containers and improve connections between Bangladesh and international shipping networks. For exporters, particularly the country’s large garment and textile sector, greater capacity could also improve schedule reliability and reduce pressure on existing terminals.

Chattogram handles the overwhelming majority of Bangladesh’s international seaborne trade, making terminal capacity and vessel restrictions important factors in the country’s logistics costs.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said during the groundbreaking ceremony that the development was part of Bangladesh’s broader effort to expand its economy to $1 trillion by 2034, with private investment and public private partnerships expected to play a larger role in infrastructure development.

The structure of the Laldia project represents a significant change in the way major port infrastructure is being developed in Bangladesh.

Rather than financing the terminal directly through public expenditure, private investors are responsible for designing, financing, constructing and operating the facility while the underlying port asset remains under Bangladeshi ownership.

The project is expected to bring around $550 million of foreign direct investment into Bangladesh and represents one of the country’s largest port sector public private partnerships.

APM Terminals will not begin generating terminal operating revenue until the facility enters service, placing commercial pressure on the developer and its partners to keep construction and commissioning on schedule.

The development comes as Bangladesh seeks to modernise its container infrastructure and improve its position within regional supply chains. Chattogram’s existing vessel size limitations mean much of the country’s containerised trade depends on feeder services connecting with larger vessels at regional transshipment hubs.

Accommodating vessels of up to 6,000 TEU will not remove that structure entirely, but it could give carriers more flexibility in deploying larger ships to Bangladesh and potentially improve economies of scale.

Laldia is also being developed with electrified cargo handling equipment, solar power installations and infrastructure capable of supporting shore power.

Those systems are intended to reduce emissions, noise and local air pollution from terminal operations while preparing the facility for tighter environmental requirements affecting shipping and international supply chains.

That has a commercial dimension for Bangladesh. European and North American buyers are increasingly measuring emissions across supply chains, placing pressure on exporters and logistics providers to document and reduce the carbon footprint associated with production and transportation.

The terminal is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs during construction and over 500 positions once operations begin. Training and apprenticeship programmes are planned to develop local technical and maritime skills.

Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman described Laldia as a landlord port model combining private investment and operating expertise with continued public ownership of the infrastructure.

Construction now puts the focus on delivery of the terminal by 2030, when the additional capacity and deeper vessel access are expected to begin reshaping container operations at Bangladesh’s largest maritime gatewanew