Container Traffic in India Falls

Container traffic handled by major ports in India fell 8.4 percent in the April-June period, the first quarter of fiscal 2009-10, amid signs of improvement in overall traffic movements.

Total volume at the country’s 12 gateway hubs amounted to 1.6 million TEUs, down from about 1.8 million TEUs in the same period the previous fiscal year, according to latest traffic figures released by the Indian Ports Association.

Throughput at Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s largest container port, suffered a marginal decline when volume decreased to 972,000 TEUs from 1 million TEUs.

Chennai, the second-largest box hub, handled 273,000 TEUs, down from 309,000 TEUs. Traffic at Tuticorin fell to 103,000 TEUs from 114,000 TEUs.

Mumbai’s volume went down by 50 percent to 15,000 TEUs from 30,000 TEUs.

Kolkata registered a marginal growth, having moved 116,000 TEUs compared with 111,000 TEUs a year earlier. 

In terms of overall tonnage, major ports handled 136.6 million tons of cargo in the first quarter, up nearly 2 percent from 134 million tons in the same period in fiscal 2008-09.

Kandla emerged as the largest cargo hub with throughput of 18.8 million tons, followed by Visakhapatnam, 16.7 million tons; Nehru, 15 million tons; Paradip, 14.7 million tons; Chennai, 14.4 million tons; and Mumbai, 12.9 million tons.