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Raja Simhan T.E.

Chennai , Dec. 5

THE Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) has requested iron ore exporters not to bring any vessel to Chennai till January end. This is due to congestion at the Chennai port for iron ore vessels, which need to wait for a few days to get a berth.

The port trust has said that until the congestion reduces, it will not acknowledge the arrival of any iron ore vessel that do not conform to its direction, a ChPT source said.

As on December 2, eleven iron ore vessels were waiting at the anchorage, for want of berth inside the port. Four more vessels are expected to arrive in ten days, which would only aggravate the congestion, a ChPT source said.

The port trust expects the congestion to get over in 45 days, the source said. The increased iron ore traffic in the last few months has been due to a spurt in Chinese buying, the source said. The problem at the Chennai port is that there is only one iron ore mechanical ore handling plant to accommodate all the vessels. It takes a couple of days to load the entire cargo in a ship, the source said.

Following the ChPT direction, iron ore exporters may divert their vessels to nearby ports, including Visakhapatnam. However, nothing is known at the moment, said a trade source.

The top iron ore exporters using the Chennai port are MMTC, NMDC, MSPL, Sesa Goa, Tungabadhra Minerals, Hothur Traders and Bellary Iron Ore. Meanwhile, the ChPT has advised iron ore exporters to bring only washed/sieved dust-free iron ore to avoid pollution.

In the last few days, the port trust has received a few complaints from various forums regarding increased iron ore dust pollution. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials too visited the port and urged the port trust to stop tipping of dust emanating ore.

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