The seaborne traffic at the country’s 13 major ports rebounded with 5.7 per cent increase in December 2013, against 2.2 per cent decline in October and 0.4 per cent in November. The rate of increase is also the highest in the current fiscal, barring 7+ per cent in August. Cumulatively, the traffic at the major ports showed 1.9 per cent increase compared to 2.3 per cent increase during H1 and 1 per cent decline during Q1. Four out of 13 ports ended the month with annual decline: Kandla recorded 21 per cent decline, the fourth straight month of y-o-y erosion in traffic; Chennai recorded 5 per cent; V.O. Chidambaranar (earlier Tuticorin) 6 per cent; and Cochin 21 per cent erosion in traffic during the month.

Among the nine ports that were in positive growth phase during December, basking in robust thermal coal loading, Ennore recorded 82 per cent increase during the month and 62 per cent during April-December. Mormugao achieved 63 per cent growth, over 35 per cent in November and 55 per cent in October, on the back of strong growth in coking coal and other industrial cargo, even though the port continued to draw blank in iron ore loading that resulted in 43 per cent drop in total freight at the port cumulatively. Among the cargoes, thermal coal declined for the first time in the current fiscal with the decline largely in freight at New Mangalore, even as coking coal quantity shot up six fold. Iron ore, raw and finished fertilizer also rose 20+ per cent during the month. POL and other industrial cargo declined for the third consecutive month.

Taking April-December period, Ennore Port enjoyed booming business, thanks to burgeoning thermal coal quantity. Freight volume at the port was up 62 per cent during the period. Freight volume at Paradip was up 25 per cent and that at New Mangalore 8 per cent cumulatively. Business volume at Mormugao was down 43 per cent. Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kandla, Mumbai and JNPT also suffered 1-5 per cent decline in freight volume.

Among the cargoes, thermal cargo shot up 29 per cent, against 44 per cent during H1. Iron ore freight was down 18 per cent (even after taking into account y-o-y increases during August-December). Booming thermal coal loading helped Ennore and Paradip, apart from New Mangalore and Kandla. One per cent increase in POL business was concentrated in Paradip and New Mangalore. Eroding finished fertiliser freight was noticed mainly in Kandla and Visakhapatnam and 4.5 per cent drop in container volume was concentrated in JNPT and Chennai.

SEABORNE CARGO AT MAJOR PORTS DURING APRIL-DECEMBER 2013
 
000 Tonnes
% Increase
Kolkata Dock System
9,229
6.50
Haldia Dock Complex
21,506
6.48
Total: Kolkata
30,735
6.48
Paradip
50,858
24.81
Visakhapatnam
43,067
-2.57
Ennore
19,801
62.14
Chennai
38,098
-4.51
Cochin
15,603
4.77
New Mangalore
29,344
8.58
Mormugao
8,565
-42.59
Mumbai
43,644
-1.02
JNPT
45,991
-4.14
Kandla
66,084
-4.91
Total
4,13,014
1.91
Classification by cargo
POL
1,39,089
0.85
Iron Ore
17,819
-18.18
Finished Fertiliser
5,276
-19.25
Raw Fertiliser
5,561
-5.44
Thermal Coal
54,122
29.05
Coking Coal
25,205
20.53
Containers
85,231
-4.48
Other cargo
80,711
-0.45
Total
4,13,014
1.91

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