Essar PortsÂ’ cargo traffic grows by 25percent in FY 2016-17

Essar Ports, which operates port terminals on the east and west coasts of India, has recorded a 25 percent growth in cargo traffic in FY 2016-17.

The consolidated cargo handling across the companyÂ’s five operational ports in Hazira (Gujarat), Paradip (Odisha), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Salaya(Gujarat) and Vadinar (Gujarat) rose to 72.86 million tonnes (MT) in FY2016-17, compared to 58.27 MT in the previous fiscal. Third-party traffic grew by 60 per cent.

Dry and Unit cargo
The growth in Essar PortsÂ’ dry bulk cargo has been a remarkable 52 per cent at30.39 MT in FY16-17 as compared to 19.97 MT in FY15-16. The anchor customer of Essar PortsÂ’ dry bulk terminals in Hazira, Paradip and Visakhapatnam is Essar Steel.

• The30 MT Hazira Bulk Terminal manages dry bulk, break bulk and project cargo for Essar SteelÂ’s 10 MT Hazira Steel Complex. The terminal is being expanded to 50 MT capacity;

• The16 MT dry bulk terminal in Paradip handles pellets for Essar Steel;

• The16 MT terminal at Visakhapatnam handles both iron ore and pellets for Essar Steel NMDC and other major steel players. It is being expanded to 32 MT.

The substantial growth in cargo traffic at these ports indicates the heightened activity and capacity utiliation at Essar Steel.  

Liquidcargo

EssarPortsÂ’ Vadinar Oil Terminal, which receives crude and dispatches finished products for Essar OilÂ’s 20 MT Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, recorded a growth of 11 per cent of liquid cargo. It recorded a throughput of 42.47 MT in FY16-17compared to 38.30 MT in FY15-16.

Commenting on the performance, Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and MD, Essar Ports, said:“I am delighted with the robust growth in cargo traffic across our ports and terminals in FY17. I am especially happy about the remarkable growth in bulk cargo because that is where the future lies. We expect higher growth in the coming years because of increasing capacity utilisation by our anchor customers and heightened economic activity in the country.”

Essar Ports is one of the largest port companies of India, with a current capacity of140 MTPA. The capacity is being expanded to 194 MTPA over the next few years.Essar Ports has five operational port terminals at Hazira, Vadinar, Paradip,Salaya and Visakhapatnam.