• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Kolkata , Jan. 3

SOUTH Eastern Railway (SER), a major freight loading zonal railway, has cut down on the allocations of wagons for movement of iron ore for exports.

Simultaneously, wagon availability has been stepped up to facilitate increased domestic movement of iron ore to meet the burgeoning ore demand of a large number of sponge iron producers located in West Bengal, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

According to SER sources, the allocation for exports has been virtually halved to four rakes a day, hitting hard the exporters and the three east coast ports used by exporters for shipment purposes.

Thus, no rake is being allocated at all for Visakhapatnam port against one rake a day previously, while only two rakes are now being allocated for Paradip (2.5 rakes previously) and two rakes for Haldia (five rakes previously).

The principle being followed in this regard is this: the allocation is being made only to the extent backloading is possible to curb evacuation of the empty rakes out of the ports. It is a conscious decision of the Railways," said SER sources, adding that imported coking coal is being used for backloading at Paradip and Haldia.

The sponge iron units in Durgapur-Asansol belt in West Bengal, Raipur area in Chattishgarh, and near Bhubaneswar in Orissa stand to benefit as a result.

The availability of iron rakes to these units has jumped from six to around 10 a day.

However, even the increased availability of rakes may not be sufficient to meet the projected increased domestic demand, the SER sources said. This is because the actual demand is difficult to assess.

However, the current rationalisation of wagon allocation will in no way hit the integrated steel plants like the four SAIL plants at Durgapur, Bokaro, Rourkela and Bhilai, IISCO and Tata Steel's plant at Jamshedpur.

The total allocation (for iron ore movement) for these units is 20 rakes a day, up by two rakes from the second quarter of the current fiscal, it is learnt.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Ministry set to seek Cabinet nod for Chennai airport restructuring

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line