Indian ports' cargo volumes up 13% in Nov

Cargo volumes in Indian ports grew by 13 per cent in November to 48.2 million tonnes against 42.5 million tonnes in the year-ago period, mainly powered by iron and coal cargo traffic.

Cargo traffic also grew 3.4 per cent in November over the previous month.

"December is likely to witness a marginal growth due to Christmas and the New Year, for which orders have already been despatched to foreign countries. But the volume growth has not been substantial," a top official of the Indian Ports Association (IPA) told PTI.

November witnessed the second-highest monthly cargo traffic since April 2008.

Driven by a 41 per cent growth in coal traffic, Paradip Port, Orissa, witnessed the highest growth year-on-year at 43 per cent, followed by Chennai Port at 27 per cent, where increase in container traffic pushed growth.

Overall, 12 ports registered a cargo traffic growth in November with Visakhapatnam posting a 19 per cent and Mumbai an 18 per cent growth.

Solid cargo constituted 50 per cent of the total cargo at major ports followed by liquid cargo (32 per cent) and containers (18 per cent), according to IPA data.

Three ports on the east coast -- Chennai, Tuticorin and Kolkata -- clocked a growth in container traffic, while JNPT's container traffic declined by 4.4 per cent in the year-to-date FY 10 period.

JNPT is in close proximity to Mumbai. The four ports cumulatively account for 57.8 million tonnes (89 per cent) of the total container traffic in the country, the data said.