Traffic at Cochin Port Rises by 17% in August 2014

Traffic across 12 major ports in the country rose by 1.4 per cent in August 2014 on a y-o-y basis. Eight ports witnessed a rise in traffic and four saw a decline, of which particularly the steep fall in traffic at the Chennai and New Mangalore port pulled down the overall traffic at the 12 major ports. On a cumulative basis, from April 2014 to August 2014, traffic at these ports was higher by three per cent y-o-y.

Cochin port registered a significant increase of 17.5 per cent y-o-y in the movement of cargo. Total traffic handled by the port rose from 1.9 million tonnes in August 2013 to 2.2 million tonnes in August 2014. Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) products primarily drove the rise in traffic. Their movement rose from 1.2 million tonnes to 1.6 million tonnes.

Chennai port reported a 6.9 per cent decline in total traffic in August 2014 vis-a-vis August 2013. This change was because of a reduction in the traffic of POL products from 1.1 million tonnes to 0.8 million tonnes. Among the other ports in Tamil Nadu, the Kamarajar (Ennore) port recorded a growth rate of 2.3 per cent in cargo movement, led by POL products. V.O. Chidambaranar port recorded a five per cent growth in cargo traffic. It was driven by a 17.5 per cent increase in the movement of thermal coal and 23.5 per cent rise in miscellaneous cargo.

Mumbai port witnessed a 5.3 per cent rise in traffic. The rise was a result of a higher traffic of POL products, iron & steel and other miscellaneous cargo. On the other hand, for August 2014, JNPT port saw a slight decline of 1.5 per cent in traffic handled. This was because of a 21.8 per cent fall in the movement of POL products to 1,639 tonnes. Cumulative growth between April and August 2014 in traffic at JNPT was, however, positive at 3.5 per cent, vis-à-vis the corresponding period last year.

Kolkata port showed strong growth of nine per cent in cargo movement. This was driven by increased traffic of vegetable oils and containerised cargo. However, Haldia port showed only a modest growth of 1.7 per cent in traffic.

Mormugao registered a y-o-y growth of 6.8 per cent in total traffic in August 2014. It also saw a cumulative growth rate of 22.7 per cent y-o-y, the highest among all major ports in the country from April to August 2014. Except for coking coal, the traffic of all other commodities rose during this period. While Mormugao registered a growth of 6.8 per cent, traffic handled at New Mangalore port declined by an almost similar figure (6.4 per cent). The decline in cargo traffic at the port was relatively less at 4.2 per cent y-o-y, during the period from April to August 2014. This fall came largely from a decline in the POL traffic at 10.4 per cent.