Granulated Slag and Clinker CFR Chattogram, Bangladesh
19.2 million tonnes of clinker and 8.3 million tonnes of slag imported in 2025-26, lightered from Chattogram's outer anchorage and Kutubdia to grinding units on the Dhaleshwari, Shitalakkhya and Meghna
Bangladesh's cement industry runs on imported material. National Board of Revenue figures for the 2025-26 financial year put clinker imports at 19.2 million tonnes and slag at 8.3 million tonnes, with nearly 6 million tonnes of limestone and about 5 million tonnes of fly ash, close to 38.5 million tonnes of cement raw materials in all; clinker had been the country's largest import by volume every year from 2000-01 to 2024-25. Installed capacity is about 100 million tonnes against 2025 output of no more than 40 million tonnes, and the grinding units sit in five zones: Mukterpur and Munshiganj on the Dhaleshwari, Narayanganj on the Shitalakkhya, Meghnaghat on the Meghna, Chattogram and Mongla. Bangladesh has not reported its 2023-2025 imports of either product, so the origins are read from the exporters. In 2025 China declared 6.35 million tonnes of granulated slag (HS 2618) to Bangladesh at an average USD 4.19 per tonne, its largest destination and 32% of its slag exports; India declared 1.22 million tonnes at USD 7.69, 81% of its slag exports and more than double the 586,760 tonnes of 2024; Japan declared 87,550 tonnes. For clinker (HS 2523.10) six reporting origins declared 13.11 million tonnes: Indonesia 7.73 million at USD 29.90, Thailand 2.91 million at USD 34.14, China 1.05 million at USD 32.90, South Korea 881,046 tonnes, Pakistan 346,134 tonnes and Japan 195,835 tonnes. Vietnam, which declared 6.27 million tonnes of clinker to Bangladesh in 2023, has not reported 2024 or 2025. At the Bangladesh end, the cement manufacturers put slag invoices at USD 15.5 to 25.9 per tonne against a customs assessable value of USD 30, and clinker at USD 48 to 50 against USD 52.5 (June 2026).
Seaborne cargo reaches the river grinders in two steps. Chattogram's jetties take ships of up to 10 m draught and 200 m length, so larger bulkers lighten at anchor first: in November 2025 a 199 m, 63,777-tonne carrier with 61,500 tonnes of slag from Dandong anchored off Kutubdia to lighten before moving closer to the port. Lighters of 1,000 to 3,000 tonnes then run up the rivers. The cement industry had put Tk 3,000 crore into its own lighters by 2021, and the regulated base freight from the outer anchorage to Dhaka, Narayanganj and adjoining destinations is Tk 550 per tonne, with a 10% rise to Tk 605 agreed after the April 2026 diesel price increase. Normal discharge takes 7 to 10 days; in January 2026, with 108 ships and 4.5 million tonnes waiting at the outer anchorage and Kutubdia, 25 of them carrying clinker, it ran to 20 to 30 days against demurrage of USD 15,000 to 20,000 a day. Indian material can also come by river. The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol waterway, 2,660 km of routes with a least available depth of 2.5 m, links Kolkata and Haldia with ports of call at Narayanganj, Pangaon and Ashuganj, with Muktarpur an extended port of call under Pangaon. It carried 4.68 million tonnes in 2023-24, mainly fly ash, and 3.9 million tonnes of fly ash went to Bangladesh in 3,823 barge voyages in January to November 2022, about 1,020 tonnes a voyage. The Kolkata fly ash pontoons load through pipes, so granular slag needs a grab or conveyor loading point. Customs duty is 5% on granulated slag and on fly ash; clinker is listed at 25% in the 2026-27 tariff schedule, and the manufacturers report paying 15% of the assessable value. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers granulated slag and clinker CFR Chattogram outer anchorage or Kutubdia, or delivered to a grinder's river jetty, against an independent inspector's certificate at load (glass content and moisture for slag; C3S and free lime for clinker) and a certificate of origin naming the producing works; our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices the ship and the lighter or barge leg. Send the product, monthly tonnage, discharge point with its draught or barge limit, delivery basis and payment terms.
Also on this lane: Cement Clinker · Fly Ash
Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices GBFS slag freight in bulk and by river barge on LaycanDesk.
The market in figures
- Imports, 2025-26 financial year (NBR)
- Clinker 19.2 Mt · slag 8.3 Mt · limestone nearly 6 Mt · fly ash about 5 Mt
- Slag declared to Bangladesh, 2025 (HS 2618)
- China 6.35 Mt at USD 4.19/t (83%) · India 1.22 Mt at USD 7.69/t (16%) · Japan 87,550 t
- Clinker declared to Bangladesh, 2025 (HS 2523.10)
- Indonesia 7.73 Mt (59%) · Thailand 2.91 Mt (22%) · China 1.05 Mt · South Korea 0.88 Mt · Pakistan 0.35 Mt · Japan 0.20 Mt
- Invoice vs customs assessable value (June 2026)
- Slag USD 15.5-25.9/t vs USD 30 · clinker USD 48-50/t vs USD 52.5
- Customs duty
- Granulated slag 5% · fly ash 5% · clinker 25% in the 2026-27 schedule, 15% of assessable value as reported by manufacturers
- Discharge
- Jetties to 10 m draught and 200 m length · lightering at the outer anchorage and Kutubdia · lighter base freight Tk 550/t to Dhaka and Narayanganj, Tk 605 agreed April 2026
- River route from India
- Indo-Bangladesh Protocol, 2,660 km, 2.5 m least depth · 4.68 Mt in 2023-24 · fly ash barges about 1,020 t a voyage
- Grinding zones
- Mukterpur and Munshiganj · Narayanganj · Meghnaghat · Chattogram · Mongla
Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.
Questions buyers ask
- How does slag or clinker reach a grinding unit on the Meghna or Shitalakkhya?
- By lighter from the anchorage. Chattogram's jetties take ships of up to 10 m draught and 200 m length, so a Supramax or Ultramax lightens at the outer anchorage or off Kutubdia, as the 61,500 t slag cargo from Dandong did in November 2025. Lighters of 1,000 to 3,000 t carry the cargo upriver on a regulated base freight of Tk 550 per tonne to Dhaka, Narayanganj and adjoining destinations, with a 10% rise to Tk 605 agreed in April 2026. Discharge normally takes 7 to 10 days; in January 2026 waits ran to 20 to 30 days. Discharge rate, lighter availability and demurrage belong in the contract.
- Can Indian slag come to Bangladesh by river barge instead of by sea?
- The waterway exists and already runs at scale for fly ash: 3.9 Mt went to Bangladesh in 3,823 barge voyages in January to November 2022, about 1,020 t a voyage, on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route from Kolkata and Haldia, which has ports of call at Narayanganj, Pangaon and Ashuganj and an extended port of call at Muktarpur. India does not list granulated slag (HS 2618) among the restricted items of its Schedule 2 export policy, and India declared 1.22 Mt of slag to Bangladesh in 2025. The open point is loading: the Kolkata fly ash pontoons load through pipes, so a slag parcel needs a grab or conveyor loading point, and the grinder's jetty has to take protocol barges. Tell us your jetty and its barge limits.
- What import duty does Bangladesh charge on slag and clinker?
- Granulated slag (2618.00.00) and fly ash (2620.99.10) carry 5% customs duty in the 2026-27 tariff schedule. Customs assesses slag at USD 30 per tonne against invoices the manufacturers put at USD 15.5 to 25.9, so 5% comes to about USD 1.50 a tonne on the assessable value alone. Cement clinker (2523.10.00) is listed at 25%; the manufacturers report paying 15% of an assessable value of USD 52.5 per tonne, about USD 7.90 a tonne. VAT and advance tax at import stage are additional and confirmed by the importer's clearing agent.
- Which countries supply Bangladesh's slag and clinker?
- Slag is Chinese and Indian. Exporters' declarations for 2025 show China 6.35 Mt (83%), India 1.22 Mt (16%) and Japan 87,550 t. For clinker, the six reporting origins declared 13.11 Mt in 2025: Indonesia 7.73 Mt, Thailand 2.91 Mt, China 1.05 Mt, South Korea 881,046 t, Pakistan 346,134 t and Japan 195,835 t. Vietnam declared 6.27 Mt to Bangladesh in 2023 and has not reported since, so the full clinker picture comes from the NBR total of 19.2 Mt for 2025-26.
- What does CBIL need to quote slag or clinker into Bangladesh?
- The product, the monthly tonnage, the discharge point (outer anchorage, Kutubdia or your own jetty) with its draught or barge limit, the delivery basis, and payment terms. For slag, state the glass content you accept and whether the price is on wet or dry weight, because granulated slag ships damp. For clinker, state your C3S floor and free-lime ceiling. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices the ship and the lighter or barge leg, so a CFR figure and a delivered-jetty figure can be shown side by side.