Fertilizers and coal drive port traffic volume up 5% in current fiscal

However, iron ore traffic volume shows a marked dip

With the exception of New Mangalore Port, all the other 11 major ports of the country have shown an overall growth in traffic between April and November 2014 as compared to the same period last year.

The country’s ports have witnessed a 24% jump in the volume of raw fertilizers and a 17.5% rise in thermal coal. Experts say increased electricity production and unavailability of domestic coal due to cancellation of 204 coal blocks by the Supreme Court have played a part in the increase of traffic volumes, particularly increased imports. However, while thermal coal has increased in volumes, coking coal has declined by 4.6% in the same period.

The dip in traffic volumes of coking coal, a key raw material in steel making, has occured due to stagnant steel production in the current year. The highest dip was seen in iron ore traffic volumes. With all ports handling a cumulative of 10.9 million tonnes (MT), iron ore traffic fell 29.2% from the 15.4 MT volume handled during April to November 2013.

The decline in traffic volumes of iron ore has been attributed to increased environmental concerns, which has led to the closure of mining operations by courts and the government. The apex court banned mining in the states of Odisha, Goa and Karnataka, and the ban has been partially lifted only recently.

Overall, ports registered a growth of over 5% with the traffic rising from 365 MT to 384 MT.  Mormugao Port has shown the highest growth, with an increase of 22% in traffic, up from 7.4 MT the previous year to 9.04 MT in the same period of April-November. Ennore Port and Tuticorin Port have also shown double-digit growth. The rest of the eight major ports show single digit growth.

New Mangalore Port shows a dip of 5.19%, declining from 25.7 MT in April-November 2013 to 24.3 MT during the same period. The decline can be attributed to the decrease in petroleum and oil product traffic volume, which saw an 8.6% dip.