Ennore Port witnesses 35% increase in cargo traffic

Major ports in India witnessed a 2.4 per cent rise in cargo traffic in August, on the back of increased container, coking coal and petroleum shipments.

Ennore Port witnessed a sharp 35 per cent rise in cargo traffic in the month of August, the fastest rate of growth among the 13 major ports in India. The higher growth rate was achieved due to a 19.5 per cent increase in thermal coal traffic at the port.

Traffic at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) registered a record year-on-year increase of 4.8 per cent during the month, driven by higher container volumes.

The other major port in Maharashtra, the Mumbai Port, saw an even higher rise in cargo traffic by 12.8 per cent on account of a 30.9 per cent jump in petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) consignments. The volume of POL was even higher at the Kandla Port in Gujarat, which handled 4.8 million tonnes of these products during the month. Coupled with a 23 per cent rise in fertiliser cargo, traffic at the port was up 7.1 per cent during the month.

The Visakhapatnam Port was the only major port to record a year-on-year fall in volumes in August. The port handled 1.1 million tonnes of POL during the month under review, compared to 1.7 million tonnes in the corresponding year-ago period. Combined with a 40.4 per cent decline in iron ore traffic, throughput at the port fell by 18.6 per cent in August.

The trend of reduced iron ore traffic continues in the wake of restrictions imposed on overseas shipment of the commodity. None of the major ports reported an increase in iron ore traffic, cumulatively handling a volume of 1.2 million tonnes, in comparison to 3.7 million tonnes a year ago.

This seems to be one of the main reasons for cumulative traffic volumes declining by 3.5 per cent at the major ports during the April-August period. Ennore Port has, however, bucked the trend, with volumes shooting up by 29.1 per cent during the period, as have the V.O Chidambaranar, Cochin, Mumbai, JNPT and Kandla ports.

But the Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Mormugao ports witnessed a sharp decline in volumes during the first five months of the year in comparison to last year.

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