IN Brief:
- Empty container yards serving Mundra have suspended operations following APSEZ's decision to restrict empty-box handling to designated yards inside the port SEZ.
- Around 5,000 containers a day are being held up according to the Mundra Customs Brokers' Association, while roughly 1,500 hauliers have joined the stoppage.
- Factory stuffing, empty returns, vessel cut-offs, and equipment positioning face increasing disruption even though CFS stuffing remains operational.
A dispute over empty container handling at Mundra has widened beyond depot operators, with container hauliers joining the stoppage as exporters and importers face restricted equipment movements around India’s largest commercial port.
The disruption began after Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone decided that, from 1 September, empty export-import containers should be handled through designated yards inside the Mundra port special economic zone rather than off-dock facilities nominated by shipping lines.
APSEZ says the change is intended to improve safety and security, reduce road congestion, improve vehicle turnaround, shorten container movements, and limit misuse of empty-depot codes. Empty-yard operators oppose the restriction and suspended their services from 28 August while seeking its withdrawal.
The immediate effect has been a break in the empty-container cycle. Factory-stuffing releases and empty import returns at affected yards are unavailable, while Container Freight Station stuffing and CFS gate-in activity continue to operate.
CMA CGM has confirmed the same split in its customer guidance for Mundra, advising exporters to review container pickup and movement plans. Other shipping lines have also warned customers of disruption as empty equipment becomes harder to release or return through the usual depot network.
The Mundra Customs Brokers’ Association estimates that around 5,000 containers a day are being held up. The association has raised concerns over failed empty returns, missed vessel cut-offs, shipment rollovers, detention exposure, and additional handling and transport costs if the stoppage continues.
By 1 September, the dispute had widened further. Around 1,500 container transporters serving Mundra had stopped container movements in support of the depot operators, extending the risk from empty-box handling towards laden import and export movements.
Empty containers determine whether exports can move
An empty box carries no cargo, but its location is central to a containerised export. A factory-stuffed shipment begins with the carrier releasing a container of the correct size and type, followed by collection, movement to the shipper, loading, documentation, and delivery to the terminal before the vessel cut-off.
Interrupting the first stage can make the rest of the confirmed booking unusable. Finished goods may be ready, vessel space may have been reserved, and road transport may have been arranged, yet the shipment cannot leave the factory if the nominated container is unavailable.
Importers face a different constraint. Once cargo has been unloaded, empty equipment normally has to be returned to a carrier-nominated depot within an agreed free-time period. When the designated location will not accept the box, the container can remain on a truck or customer premises while the importer waits for alternative instructions.
That creates a direct cost question because detention and additional haulage can accumulate even when the cargo owner did not cause the disruption. Customs brokers have asked shipping lines to provide alternative nominated locations, extend relevant permissions without charge, and preserve evidence of unsuccessful returns where later costs are disputed.
The policy dispute concerns more than storage space. Off-dock empty yards inspect, clean, repair, store, and reposition equipment on behalf of shipping lines, allowing containers to move between import returns and subsequent export requirements without all activity taking place inside the terminal boundary.
APSEZ’s proposed model concentrates more of that handling within the port ecosystem. The operator argues that shorter movements and greater control can improve efficiency and security, while depot operators and shipping interests argue that restricting carrier choice reduces flexibility and threatens established commercial arrangements.
Haulier action raises the risk to laden cargo
The involvement of container transporters materially changes the operational exposure. An empty-yard stoppage primarily interrupts equipment release and return; a broader trucking stoppage can also prevent laden containers moving between factories, freight stations, terminals, and customer sites.
Container Freight Station operations may remain available inside the port system, but those facilities still depend on road movements to bring cargo in and take containers out. If fewer trucks are operating, the fact that the CFS gate is open becomes progressively less useful.
Mundra’s scale amplifies that effect. The port has installed capacity of about 274 million tonnes and annual throughput of roughly 192 million tonnes, with container handling of approximately 8.5 million TEU and 29 berths supporting a broad mix of industrial and consumer trade.
Those volumes connect the port with factories, inland depots, rail services, warehouses, customs brokers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, and transport companies across northern and western India. Disruption in the empty-depot network can therefore propagate well beyond the facilities where the industrial action began.
Recovery will also take longer than the reopening of a yard. Boxes already stranded at customer sites or temporary locations have to be returned and inspected, exporters waiting for equipment need new allocations, missed sailings require rebooking, and truck schedules must be rebuilt around movements deferred during the stoppage.
A prolonged dispute would increase that imbalance each day. More import containers complete delivery and need somewhere to return, while exporters continue requesting boxes for new shipments and vessels keep moving against published cut-offs.
The policy change was intended to create a more integrated empty-container system inside Mundra. Its first days have instead exposed how dependent the port is on the off-dock equipment and transport network around it, with approximately 5,000 containers a day already estimated to be affected and hauliers now widening the operational pressure.
