East Coast Railway (ECoR) has recorded a 24 per cent drop in its loading of iron ore for exports for the month of October this year, compared to last year owing to the slump in demand for the mineral in the international market in the wake of financial meltdown.
The zonal railway’s iron ore loading for exports dipped from 1.99 million tonnes (mt) in October 2007 to 1.51mt in October this year. However, during April-October this year, the iron ore loading meant for exports stood at 12.6 mt, a 6.6 per cent growth over 11.81 mt recorded in the same period last year.
ECoR’s average loading in Talcher was 22.8 rakes per day in October this year, compared to 22.1 rakes per day in the same month last year, with the loading affected due to strike by the local people on October 25 and 27. Similarly, the average loading in the revenue generating Kirandul-Kottavalasa line in October this year was 11.8 rakes per day but the loading could not pick up due to reduce demand for iron ore in the later half of the month.
The raw material loading for steel plants during October this year stood at 0.11 mt as against 0.03 mt in the same month last year. For April-October 2008, the overall loading of raw materials for steel plants was 0.52 mt, as against 0.28 mt in the same period last year. The loading of coal for October this year stood at 4.77 mt which is a 17.7 per cent growth over the same month last year.
The coal loading for April-October stood at 29.12 mt as against 27.71 mt in the corresponding period of last year. ECoR’s overall freight traffic for October this year was 8.33 mt while the traffic for April-October stood at 55.07mt as compared to 51.67 mt in April-October last year.