Cargo volume at major ports declines in Apr-Nov 2012

During April-November 2012, India’s 12 major ports handled a combined 359.9 million tonne of cargo which is
over 2.8 percent lower than 370.6 mn t handled in the year-ago period, data released by the Indian Port Association (IPA) showed.

It is learnt that the volume of India’s external trade handled by these ports declined to less than 60 percent from more than 75 percent until a few years ago. These ports are located at Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Kandla, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT).

One of the reason for decline in cargo handling at major ports is the rise in market share of minor ports, experts said. The minor ports have been attracting major portion of the cargo at a time when the global economy has slowed down, said Shailesh Garg, director at London-based consultants Drewry Shipping. The minor ports, which are more efficient, have become a threat to the major ports, reports suggest.

Container cargo at JNPT, the country’s largest container port by volumes, declined 1.76 percent from a year ago to 42 mt, according to IPA data.

However, the country’s only corporate port at Ennore posted a growth of 20 percent during the period largely due to an increase in the shipment of coal, both thermal and coking.

Ennore is the only port that was built as a corporate entity as compared to the other ports that are still run as trusts. The sharpest fall in cargo was at Mormugao in Goa where traffic fell by more than 40% because of the ban initiated on iron ore handling by Goa State Pollution Control Board.