Coal news and updates

Aug cargo handling by Indian major ports up 1.52% y-o-y

September 9: India’s total cargo handling for the month of August 2014 increased by 1.52% to 49.19 million tons (mt) against a volume of 48.46 mt, according to provisional data released by the Indian Ports Association.

On a cumulative basis, total cargo handling during the April-August period of 2014-15 stood at 239.88 mt against a volume of 233.04 mt in the same period last year, registering a growth of 2.93%.

Of the total cargo handling during the month of August, coal handling by major ports stood at 9.42 mt, up 11.88% from 8.42 mt in the same month of last year. Steam coal handling by major ports stood at 6.82 mt during the month under review against 5.99 mt in the same month of last year while coking coal handling by major ports in August 2014 stood at 2.61 mt compared to 2.43 mt handled in the same month a year ago.

Volume-wise, Paradip Port handled the largest volume of coal that stands at 3.24 mt in August, up 16.55% from 2.78 mt handled in August 2013.

Iron ore handling by major ports, however, dropped to 1.53 mt during the month against a volume of 2.34 mt handled in the same month a year ago.

Volume wise, among the major ports, Vizag Port handled the highest volume of iron ore during the month of August with 0.833 mt.  But, on a year-on-year basis, iron ore handling by the port dropped from 1.18 mt handled in August 2013.