The volume of containers handled by major ports in India grew about 4 percent year-over-year from April through October, the Indian Ports Association said.
Total traffic for the first seven months of fiscal 2011-12 was estimated at 4.55 million 20-foot equivalent units, compared with 4.38 million TEUs a year earlier.
The tonnage of containerized traffic increased 8 percent to 69 million tons from 64 million tons.
Traffic at Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva), the country’s largest container port, was almost flat with the year-ago period at 2.52 million TEUs.
Volume at Chennai rose 3 percent to 914,000 TEUs from 891,000 TEUs.
Kolkata handled 316,000 TEUs, up from 307,000 TEUs. Tuticorin moved 279,000 TEUs compared with 268,000 TEUs.
Cochin’s box throughput increased to 208,000 TEUs from 197,000 TEUs.
Traffic at Mumbai dropped to 36,000 TEUs from 44,000 TEUs.
According to the IPA, total cargo tonnage at major ports during April to October was up 1.5 percent, from 320 million tons to 325 million tons.
Kandla was the top cargo handler with throughput of 46.6 million tons, followed by Visakhapatnam, at 42.4 million tons; Nehru, at 38 million tons; and Chennai, at 33.3 million tons.
For fiscal 2010-11 ended March 31, India’s ocean trade through 13 major ports was estimated at 570 million tons, up 1.5 percent from 561 million tons the previous fiscal year. Container throughput for 2010-11 surged about 10 percent to 7.54 million TEUs from 6.89 million TEUs.
The Journal of Commerce Online