Major port cargo rises 2% for Apr-Sept 2013

Coal cargo sees a rise of 44% in the period

With the demand for coal going up significantly on the back of added power capacities in the country, the 12 major ports have registered an increase of 2.33% in the cargo handled during April-September 2013.

All the centre-controlled major ports handled 277 million tonne of cargo for the period. The coal cargo saw a rise of 44% for the April-Sept period this year.

Last year, there was a marginal increase of 1.8% in the cargo handled during the same period, due to slowdown pressures and overall fall in global trade. The growth for the first six months of this fiscal seems to picking up, but is still at quite a distance from the 5% growth level of 2011.

During April-September 2013, iron-ore continued to register a fall of 34.25%. There is also a drop of 5% in containerised cargo. India’s largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust saw a decline of 5.26% in its cargo volumes, mainly because DP World and Gateway Terminals reduced the amount cargo handled at their respective terminals due to tariff related issues. In the process the non-major ports have gained.