India’s major ports see 4% traffic growth in Q1FY25, led by coking coal imports, higher container handling
09 Jul 2024
Paradip port saw the highest coking coal shipments (4.3 mt)
Coking coal imports
stood at 15.83 mt for April-June, up 6 per cent, from 14.9 mt in the year-ago
period | Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR
Cargo handling, including container traffic movement, across India’s major
ports has seen a 4 per cent rise y-o-y to 209 million tonnes (mt) in April-June
of this fiscal year (Q1FY25), primarily on account of higher coking coal
imports and an increase in container handling. In the year-ago quarter, traffic
across these 12 ports stood at 200.55 mt.
Traffic
was up 6 per cent sequentially in June to 69 mt, compared with May, when it was
64.69 mt, according to data from the Indian Ports Association, accessed by businessline.
India has
12 major ports: Kolkata, Paradip, Vizag, Ennore, Chennai, VO Chidambaranar,
Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugoa, Mumbai, JNPA, and Deendayal.
Coking
coal imports stood at 15.83 mt for April-June, up 6 per cent, from 14.9 mt in
the year-ago period. Paradip port saw the highest coking coal shipments (4.3
mt).
Container
cargo movement saw an over 5 per cent rise in tonnage for the first quarter,
while in terms of TEUs (twenty equivalent units), the segment saw a 9 per cent
rise quarter-on-quarter.
Iron ore
exports were down 2.25 per cent, with a reported slowdown in China, the prime
buyer. Iron ore shipments were down to 13.6 mt for April-June 2024, as against
13.9 mt in the year-ago period.
Interestingly,
finished fertiliser imports saw a major decline, down by over 31 per cent to
1.74 mt.
Port-wise
break-up
As per the
data, three ports — Kolkata and Haldia dock systems, which together come under
the Syamaprasad Mookerjee Port, New Mangalore and Mormugao witnessed a drop in
cargo traffic.
In the
case of Kolkata dock, the decline was to the tune of 10 per cent or 3.6 mt, in
Q1FY25 compared with 4.0 mt in the year-ago period. For the Haldia dock, there
was over a 6 per cent y-o-y decline, or 10.6 mt for April–June, compared with
11.3 mt in the year-ago period.
For New
Mangalore, the cargo traffic in Q1FY25 was at 10.8 mt, down 4.5 per cent. In
the year-ago period, the cargo handled was 11.3 mt.
In
Mormugoa, traffic was down 4.7 mt, 6 per cent y-o-y; as against the year-ago
period when it was 5 mt.
Amongst
other ports, Vizag saw the highest increase in cargo traffic handled — up
nearly 9 per cent for Q1FY25 —whereas Chennai saw an over 8 per cent increase
in cargo handling.