India Steel Market Watch
December 22: The 12 major Indian ports have handled 396.85 million tons (mt) of traffic during April-November, 2015, about 3.32 percent higher than 384.10 mt recorded during the same period last year.
According to data released by the Indian Ports Association (IPA), movement of iron ore through the major ports showed a significant drop of 44.28 percent in April-November. The major ports together handled 6.19 mt of iron ore in April-November, compared to 11.11 mt handled in the same period last year.
Vishakhapatnam Port handled the highest volume of iron ore, at 3.16 mt, in April-November. This volume, however, was lower than the iron ore traffic moved through the port in the same period last year.
Thermal coal handling by the major ports was up 11.75 percent in April-November of the current fiscal. Movement of thermal coal through these ports increased to 63.16 mt in this period, compared to 56.51 mt achieved in the same period last year.
The major ports handled a total of 21.44 mt of coking coal in April-November, up 2.51 percent compared to 20.91 mt in the same period last year.
Movement of container traffic in terms of tonnage rose 1.47 percent in April-November. The major ports handled 80.94 mt of tonnage in April-November, compared to 79.77 mt in the same period last year.
Among the major ports, Paradip Port had the distinction of handling the highest volume of thermal coal, at around 19.94 mt, in April-November. Paradip Port also handled the highest quantity of coking coal, at 5.78 mt, during the period.
Movement of coking coal through Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam and Marmagoa ports increased during the period when compared to the corresponding period last year.
Eight major ports showed positive growth in traffic handling in April-November, while the remaining four showed negative growth on a year-on-year basis.
In terms of growth, Marmagoa Port topped the list with 27.06 percent increase in cargo throughput. Cochin Port’s growth was the lowest, at about 0.49 percent, during the period. In terms of traffic volumes, Kandla Port clinched the top rank with cargo volumes of 65.74 mt recorded for the period.
New Mangalore Port registered the highest decline in traffic handling, at 8.52 percent, during the period due to a fall in iron ore exports.