The growth of cargo at major Indian ports continued the uptrend in August with a 3.6 per cent rise year-on-year, at 44.3 million tonne. The cargo volumes grew by 4.6 per cent in the five-month period of April-August. Container cargo saw the maximum volumes (9.7 million tonnes) on the Indian ports in August — a rise of 16.4 per cent year-on-year. Coal volumes surged by 9.1 per cent, at 6.2 million tonne. Fertilisers and iron ore saw a decline in cargo volumes.
An analyst tracking the metals sector said the continuation of a ban on exports of iron ore will lead to a drag on the port volumes. “The surge in coal volumes is because of the demand from the power sector. That is expected to continue.” The power companies increased their coal imports in August as the ports saw an increase in volumes by as much as 10.6 per cent, compared against the same month last year. Coking coal, the prime ingredient in making steel, declined by 12 per cent in the given period.
Said another analyst from a foreign research firm: “There has been production cuts because of the iron ore issues in Karnataka. Therefore, companies might have deferred coking coal imports. We are seeing a drop in coking coal prices for the next quarter contracts — and that could push up the imports as companies would like to stock more.”
The overall cargo growth, however, was not replicated at the 13 majors ports as only nine of them reported an increase in volumes. Ennore and JNPT port reported the maximum growth in cargo volumes in August — at 31 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively. Nalin Bhatt, Satyam Agarwal and Pooja Kachhawa of Motilal Oswal in their September report on the Indian ports performance, said, “At these ports, volume was boosted by POL and container traffic respectively.” Mormugao Port posted highest de-growth in cargo volumes (-24.8 per cent), led by POL and iron-ore cargo. Volumes at Haldia, Chennai and Kolkata ports declined by 4.8 per cent, 19.1 per cent and 19.4 per cent, respectively.
The data was provided by the Indian Ports Association.
