Fertiliser imports to continue from deep water port

The Andhra Pradesh government has reversed its earlier decision to import fertilisers from the anchorage port at Kakinada. Instead, it would import them from the deep water port as usual.

The decision comes after cargo handling agencies and traders apprised the state government of the loss it would be incurring due to the move. The Centre had this year allotted about 1 million tonne of fertiliser to Andhra Pradesh for imports. Of this, the deep water port has already handled 562,000 tonne from June 26 to October 10.

According to deep water port chief executive officer, YS Prasad, “The handling chargers and wastages are very low at the deep water port as compared with the anchorage port. Besides, shipper don't have pay more hiring charges because of quick disposal of ships here. Keeping all these advantages in mind, the government has decided to go back to the deep water port,” YS Prasad, chief executive officer, DWP, told Business Standard.

The deep water port takes 2-3 days to unload 40,000 tonne of fertilisers, whereas the anchorage port needs 8-10 days to handle the same quantity. This means, the government has to pay about six days ship hiring charges, which are between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 16 lakh depending on the ship size and age, port traders said.

Besides, the handling charges at the anchorage port are about Rs 90 more per tonne as compared with the deep water port. The government thus stands to lose about Rs 4.5 crore for the remaining 500,000 tonne, particularly on handling charges, they added.

Meanwhile, the ports also plan to take up fertiliser bagging. While the deep water port has a 8,438-tonne bagging capacity, the anchorage port has a capacity of 3,000 tonne a day.