Essar Port eyes 40 pc rise in cargo handling in FY17

With the commissioning of its 20-million tonne Bulk Terminal at Salaya in Gujarat, Essar Ports today said it expects company's cargo handling to grow by over 40 per cent to 85 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal.
"The company expects cargo handling to increase to 85 MT in 2016-17 from 59 MT in 2015-16, a growth of more than 40 per cent on a year-on-year basis," the Ruias-promoted firm said in a statement.
With the commissioning of the 20 MT Salaya Bulk Terminal recently, cargo handling will see a further boost in 2016-17, it added.
On the back of increased production by its anchor customers, Essar Ports Ltd (EPL) has registered significant growth in cargo handling over the last three months, it said.

"In March 2016 alone, EPL's four operational ports handled total cargoes of 6.25 MMT, which translates to a run rate of 75 million tonnes per annum (MTPA)," the company said.
At present, the contribution of third-party traffic to overall cargo handling stands at about 10 per cent.

About 90 per cent of the cargo handled at EPL's Hazira, Vadinar, Vizag and Paradip ports is contracted with captive businesses, like Essar Steel India, Essar Oil and Essar Power, it said.
Commenting on the performance, EPL Managing Director Rajiv Agarwal said: "The rising volumes of cargo handled at our various ports and improved operational performance, reflects the modern facilities at our ports."

This will help EPL's customers with faster turnaround of ships and better utilisation of capacities in the current year, he added.
Essar Ports has capacity of 140 MTPA, which is being expanded to 194 MTPA over the next few years. It has five operational port terminals at Hazira, Vadinar, Paradip, Salaya and Vizag.