Iron ore cargo through major ports dropped 2.75% in 2017-18

Iron ore cargo carried by major ports in the country saw a decline of 2.75 per cent in 2017-18, as flagging demand for exports of lower grade ore weighed.

The volume of iron ore shipments via major ports fell to 4.85 million tonnes (mt) last financial year, against 4.99 mt in FY17. Strikingly, iron ore ended up as the only commodity to record de-growth in traffic handled by major ports, while others like liquid cargo, fertilisers, thermal and steam coal made sizeable gains.

Fragile demand for iron ore exports for iron ore of Goa’s origin, coupled with the un-remunerative realisations for higher-grade