Major Indian ports chart turnaround in traffic

From a negative growth rate in the first half of 2009-10 there has been a dramatic turnaround in major Indian ports' handling of container, coking coal and raw fertiliser during the second half even as the global economy is picking up from the financial meltdown, the Hindu Business Line reported.

The 12 major ports handled 560.68 million tonnes of traffic in 2009-10 against 530.53 million tonnes in the previous year.

Except for the ports of Kolkata, Ennore and New Mangalore, the other ports showed positive growth.

Container handling that was showing a negative growth of 6.32 percent during the first half of last year ended the fiscal with a positive growth of 4.32 percent.

“While the first half was in the grip of the global slowdown, it was a dramatic turnaround in the second half in the ports. We hope to continue this momentum this year,” said an industry source.

Kandla port continues to be the number one port in the country. While Visakhapatnam took the second spot, Chennai came third.

(Source: Cargo News Asia)