Essar Ports Apr-Jun cargo volume up 17.4 pc

Essar Ports on Wednesday reported a 17.4 per cent growth in cargo volume across its four terminals at 13.5 million tonne for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

The company's first quarter cargo handling performance has been very strong and brought it closer to achieving its target throughput by the end of the current financial year, Essar Ports said in a statement.

The company said that higher capacity utilisation at its recently commissioned terminals at Salaya and Vizag and an increase in third-party cargo will help the company achieve its target of handling 60 million tonnes of cargo by March 31, 2020.

Besides Salaya and Vizag, the company has cargo terminals at Hazira and Paradip.

All Essar terminals are focused on bulk and dry bulk cargoes that are primarily used as raw material in core sector industries like steel and power.

"Our business is on a record growth trajectory with all terminals operating in full swing. Significant boost in third-party business and enhanced capacity utilisation of our anchor customers has been the key driver for the growth in volumes," Essar Ports MD and CEO Rajiv Agarwal said.

"We have consistently surpassed the average sectorial growth rate and are confident of achieving our target by March 2020," he added.