Cargo traffic at major ports declines 1.96% to 64.63 MT in June: IPA

Cargo traffic at the country's major ports declined 1.96 per cent year-on-year to 64.63 million tonnes (MT) in June, with seven ports posting a negative growth while five such facilities saw a surge in traffic, an official release said on Tuesday.

There are 12 major ports spanning across India under the administrative control of the central government.

These 12 ports are Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

"During June 2023, the major ports handled 64.63 million tonnes of cargo against 65.93 million tonnes handled during the corresponding period of last year. The overall fall in traffic was 1.96 per cent," Indian Ports Association (IPA) said in a statement.

 

Of the seven ports, which witnessed negative growth in June 2023, VO Chidambaranar Port saw cargo traffic declining 14.15 per cent followed by Kamarajar Port (9.55 per cent drop) and Chennai Port (8.62 per cent fall), as per the IPA.

Cargo traffic at JNPT fell 8.56 per cent, Deendayal Port 7.81 per cent, Cochin Port 7.32 per cent and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port (Including Haldia) saw a 5.29 per cent drop in June, IPA said.

Fall in cargo traffic of coking and other coal thermal and steam coal, container tonnage, miscellaneous cargo and other liquids were some of the factors that contributed to the cargo traffic declining at the seven ports, it said.

However, New Mangalore Port registered the maximum cargo growth of 11.26 per cent, followed by Mormugao Port at 10.18 per cent, Mumbai Port at 8.56 per cent, Paradip Port at 8.13 per cent and Visakhapatnam Port at 2.88 per cent, it added.

IPA also said that during June, Paradip Port handled the highest volume at 11.73 MT, accounting for 18.15 per cent of the total cargo traffic followed by Deendayal Port with 10.60 MT and Visakhapatnam Port with 7 MT of cargo.