.jpg) |
Cargo volumes at India's dozen state-owned major ports fell by more than 2.8 percent between April and November as global trade slowed and increasing number of private minor terminals ate into the market, reported the Economic Times.
The 12 ports handled a combined 359.9 million tonne of cargo as against 370.6 MT handled in the year-ago period, data released by the Indian Port Association (IPA) showed. These ports are located at Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Kandla, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT).
Experts say the volume of India's external trade handled by these ports has fallen to less than 60 percent from more than 75 percent until a few years ago.
"The minor ports have been attracting major portion of the cargo at a time when the global economy has slowed down," said Shailesh Garg, director at London-based consultants Drewry Shipping. "The minor ports, which are more efficient, have become a threat to the major ports."
Container cargo at JNPT, the country's largest container port by volumes, declined 1.76 percent from a year ago to 42 MT, according to IPA data.
However, the country's only corporate port at Ennore posted a growth of 20 percent during the period largely due to an increase in the shipment of coal, both thermal and coking.
The sharpest fall in cargo was at Mormugao in Goa where traffic fell by more than 40 percent because of the ban initiated on iron ore handling by Goa State Pollution Control Board.
Cargonews Asia
|
Login
