The Hindu Business Line : Coimbatore exporters rue lack of shipping links

Exporters have to transport their goods to Singapore or Colombo ports, where the `mother vessels' are anchored, for onward shipment to destinations in Europe or the US.

Coimbatore , April 3

WHILE the Coimbatore region is being promoted as an outsourcing hub for industries, the exporters are sore over the lack of good shipping links from South Indian ports, as the `mother vessels' do not patronise the ports.

It has forced the exporters to transport their goods to Singapore or Colombo ports, where the `mother vessels' are anchored, for onward shipment of the cargo to destinations in Europe or the US. This not only pushes up the transportation cost, but also leads to longer shipment time.

Coimbatore has emerged as a major export hub with the annual exports from the region estimated to be around Rs 7,000 crore-Rs 10,000 crore. While hosiery exports from Tirupur constitute a large chunk of it, other products include cotton yarn, castings, cast iron products, textile machinery, auto components and pumps.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr D. Balasundaram, Managing Director, CPC (P) Ltd, Coimbatore, engaged in the manufacture of cast iron components, pump and valve parts, said many of the `mother vessels,' which carry containerised cargo, do not make a call on the ports in South India. For the major liners, Colombo and Singapore are the favourite ports of call. Feeder vessels from India carry cargo from Chennai, Tuticorin and Kochi to these ports where they are transferred to the `mother vessels.' He said this pushes up the cost for the shippers by $150 per twenty-foot equivalent unit and the additional sailing time is around one week. If the larger `mother vessels' made calls on the South Indian ports, the exporters would be able to save on cost and time as well. Probably, the draft at the ports in the region is not sufficient enough for larger mother vessels to be berthed and inadequate infrastructure could be another reason for mother vessels skipping these ports.

He said his company made exports worth about Rs 30 crore annually, mainly to Europe and the US. Because of the lack of `mother vessels' calling on the ports in the South, the export cargo has to be carried to Singapore or Colombo for onward transport. With the concept of `just in time' delivery picking up, the foreign buyers do not give much time between the date of placement of order and delivery, which puts the exporters in a bind. Some of the exporters, particularly the hosiery exporters, book their cargo through air but this involves a huge expense.

Mr Balasundaram, answering a question as to why the exporters from this region could not move their cargo to Mumbai for further transportation, said the movement of goods by road to Mumbai would be prohibitively costly for exporters to bear. In fact, transport by road from here to Delhi is as costly as shipping the cargo from Kochi to Rotterdam, he said.

He said the absence of a fast freight train connection between Coimbatore and Tuticorin is also acting as a damper. The delay in the conversion of the metre gauge railway track between Dindigul and Coimbatore is hampering the quicker transportation of goods.

Mr A. M. M. Khaleel, President, Coimbatore District Importers and Exporters Association, said the mother vessels call on Colombo port on Thursdays and for loading on to these ships, cargo should be moved from Tuticorin port on Mondays. For this, the consignments should be delivered at the Tuticorin port on the previous Friday for completion of customs formalities. The nearly one-week gap between the delivery of export cargo at Tuticorin port and its transfer to a mother vessel at Colombo port adds to the cost of exports.

However, a shipping industry source said the volume of export cargo generated at a time is not substantial enough for mother vessels to call on the ports in South India. He said such large ships have the capacity to carry 3,000-3,500 TEUs, but the containerised cargo available at the South Indian ports is much lesser, on which even the feeders vessels could not survive. There is also no consistency in the availability of a large volume of export cargo to encourage such vessels to call on these ports regularly.

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