Traffic handled by major ports in the country in the first half of the current financial year grew by just 6.6 per cent compared with an 8.31 per cent growth registered during the same period last year. Container traffic went up by 16 per cent during the April-September period. Last year's growth was 23 per cent.
The total traffic in April-September this year amounted to 160 million tonnes against a traffic of 150 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Container traffic grew to 1.8 million tonnes compared with last year's 1.6 million tonnes.
The slowdown in traffic was not a cause for alarm as it only represented a stabilising trend, a port official said. Last year saw a major jump in traffic at Ennore port, which almost tripled from a low base of 1 million tonnes in 2001-02 while Mangalore registered a 25 per cent rise owing to commencing of the second phase of the Mangalore Refinery, the official added.
A 5 per cent decline in container traffic in Cochin and a 38 per cent fall in Visakhapatnam have pulled down the container growth registered for all ports.
Cochin's performance has been poor in terms of overall cargo too, showing a fall of 2.55 per cent. The uncertainty over privatisation of Vallarpadam terminal and the establishment of a hub port in Cochin had affected its performance, a port official said.
Moreover, Visakhapatnam has just started its operation in July this year after being taken over by the United Liners Agencies and Dubai Ports International, he added.
Ennore experienced the highest growth of 33.74 per cent from 3.6 million tonnes to 4.8 million tonnes followed by Jawahar Lal Nehru Port which witnessed an increase of 15 per cent. The traffic at JNPT during April-September 2003 was 13.3 million tonnes compared with last year's 15.3 million tonnes.
Murmagao has fared exceptionally well showing a growth of 14 per cent against the 6 per cent growth recorded last year. The 22 per cent jump in iron ore carried boosted the total traffic of the port.
The growth could be attributed to the fact that all the five transhippers which were previously in the service of the Panajim port have started working in full swing, a port official said. However this growth might not be sustainable because the neighbouring Panajim port had slashed its iron ore handling charges, he added.
The overall cargo growth for Tuticorin has been 5.45 per cent from 6.8 million tonnes in April-September, 2003 to 7.1 million tonnes. Chennai, however experienced a meager growth of 0.94 per cent to 17 million tonnes this year, while Mumbai showed a 6 per cent growth.
Mumbai registered 14 million tonnes of cargo in April-September this year compared with last year's 15 million tonnes for the same period last year.
