PPT cargo traffic up by 33 % in Apr-Sep

Paradip Port Trust (PPT) handled 34.12 million tonne of cargo in the first six months of the current financial year, up from 25.63 million tonne in the corresponding period of the previous year, registering a growth of 33.13 per cent.

The figure is also higher by 7.5 per cent of the target fixed for the period by the port, said a release.

In September, the port handled 5.08 million tonne cargo, more than 4.55 million tonne handed in the same month last year. During the month, the import and export cargo were 2.74 million tonne and 2.34 million tonne respectively.
 

"There is an impressive increase of 84.92 per cent in export cargo during the period compared to the same period of last year," said the release.

The growth in the traffic of various types of cargo between April and September were - thermal coal (46.82 per cent), POL (16.21 per cent), iron ore (144.42 per cent), coking coal (18.11 per cent) and other cargo traffic (39.77 per cent) compared with the same period of previous year.

Paradip Port retained the second highest position in terms of cargo handled and also in terms of percentage of growth in traffic among all the major ports till the end of September 2013.

In other parameters, the average turnaround time for the month and for the six month period improved by 13 per cent each over the corresponding period of previous year while the average berth-day output for the month improved by 18 per cent.

Rail borne traffic improved by 42 per cent during the month. In the first six months of the current fiscal, a total of 743 vessels entered into the harbour and 742 vessels sailed out, compared with 599 vessels and 600 vessels respectively in the previous comparable period, said the release.