India’s Container Traffic Dives

Containerized traffic handled by India’s major ports in April, the first month of fiscal 2009-10, dropped by 14 percent from a year ago, amid indications that the continuing slump in trade will adversely impact traffic growth in the coming months.

Total volume at the country’s 12 gateway hubs amounted to 519,000 TEUs, down from 603,000 TEUs in the same month the previous fiscal year, according to latest traffic figures released by the Indian Ports Association.

Throughput at the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s largest container gateway, declined to 315,000 TEUs from 365,000 TEUs.

Chennai, the second largest box hub, handled 88,000 TEUs, down from 107,000 TEUs. Volume at Tuticorin fell to 32,000 TEUs from 38,000 TEUs.

Kolkata registered a marginal growth, having moved 41,000 TEUs compared with 37,000 TEUs a year earlier.

The slowdown in traffic comes at a time when several major ports plan to augment container-handling capacity by building new terminals through private participation.

Nehru recently issued a Request for Qualifications from interested bidders for the development of its long-awaited fourth container terminal project, while Chennai earlier invited bids for its proposed 4-million-TEU facility.

Dubai’s DP World is currently building a $500-million transshipment terminal at the southern Port of Cochin. Based on latest indications, the new facility is expected to be ready toward the end of this year and would have annual capacity of 1 million TEUs.

In fiscal 2008-09 ended March 31, consolidated box throughput totaled 6.85 million TEUs, up from 6.71 million TEUs in 2007-08.