A Study on Competitiveness Improvement of Chittagong Container Port

Purpose - Market structure is crucial to identify as it defines the market states for new and existing container ports to perform within a given region. the study aims to compare the major ports in the Bay of Bengal in the context of Chittagong Port. Design/methodology/approach - For this study, the past 9 years of container volume data have been collected and analyzed through the HHI index, BCG matrix and shift effect analysis. Based on the analysis, this study has found that the Chittagong Port is in an oligopoly competitive market structure. Findings - The findings have shown that port in low market share and low growth in very recent years with the moderately concentrated ports HHI index. The shift effect analysis shows that the container volumes shifted from one port to another in the 2019 and 2020 periods. This study is the pioneer study in the Bay of Bengal region to identify the market structure, analyze market share and growth, and analyze the market concentration. Research implications or Originality - Future recommendations for the port authority is to take advantage of geolocation; attract international; tax exemption, faster clearance process, reduced waiting charges; increasing storage and technological machinery; promoting maritime logistics education; promoting Chittagong tourism; collaboration with other countries. Also, this study can be used as basic data for the establishment of a new supply chain between Korea and Southwest Asia for the Korean government and companies.