Cargo volume at 12 major ports up marginally at 586 MT in Apr-Jan

The country's 12 major ports recorded a marginal 1.14 per cent growth in cargo volumes at 585.72 million tonne (MT) during April-January period of the current fiscal, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

The ports had handled 579.10 MT of cargo during the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

India has 12 major ports -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V.O. Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

While the handling of iron ore saw 39.02 per cent jump to 45.05 MT during the period, thermal coal shipments declined 14.98 per cent to 74.60 MT, the IPA data showed.

The 12 ports had handled 32.37 MT of iron ore and 87.74 MT of coal during April-January period of the previous fiscal.

Handling of coking and other coal rose 1.10 per cent to 47.08 MT during the ten months as compared to 46.57 MT in the year-ago period.

Finished fertiliser volumes jumped 21.55 per cent but raw fertiliser volumes dipped 2.80 per cent.

Containers recorded a growth of 2.65 per cent in terms of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

According to the figures, Deendayal port handled the highest traffic volume at 101.96 MT during April-January 2019-20, followed by Paradip at 93.38 MT, Visakhapatnam at 60.73 MT, JNPT at 56.64 MT, Kolkata (including Haldia) at 53 MT, and Mumbai at 51.34 MT.

Chennai port handled 39.80 MT of cargo, while New Mangalore handled 30.91 MT.

The volume of seaborne cargo is essentially in the nature of derived demand and is mainly shaped by the levels and changes in both global and domestic activity.

These major ports handle about 60 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.