The Hindu Business Line : Ore transportation from Jharkhand to Haldia on `road' to normalcy

Large quantities of ore for shipments through Haldia dock is transported to the dock by road, so much so that on certain days in peak time as many as 500 trucks moved into the dock per day. On an average, it will not be less than 150 vehicles per day. Right now, on an average, around 50 vehicles are arriving. The figure is set to rise in coming days.

The average monthly ore throughput at the dock is estimated at six lakh tonnes, 50 per cent of which is transported to the dock by road. Till October, the total ore throughput at the dock was 4.69 million tonnes (mt). At this rate, the current fiscal might end with a throughput of over seven mt, hope dock sources. In 2004-05, the dock handled a total of 5.4 mt of iron ore.

There are 66 licensees that undertake shipments of ore through Haldia. Together they have a total storage area of 2.5 lakh sq metres within the dock. But the demand for storage space is much higher. On certain stretches of the highway leading to Haldia dock, one could see huge piles of ore awaiting shipments, forming several small hillocks. Many exporters dump the ore outside of the dock which is already choc-a-bloc with the mineral.

The reliance of the ore exporters on road transportation is understandable. The Railways cannot step up allotment of the wagons at a short notice. Also, the allotment of wagons for export of a primary commodity such as ore would often get a lower priority in the Railways vis-à-vis that for movement of finished products where the value addition will be more.

Meanwhile, the number of ore ships at Haldia is showing a downward trend, with the result the problem of congestion, which had hit the dock badly some time ago, is now largely over. The number of ships waiting for berths has dropped to three/four on an average from around 20 a day a few weeks ago. Also, on an average, three ore ships are now at the berth as compared to 6-7, some times even more, previously. The decision of the Chinese authorities to restrict the number of ore importers is believed to be responsible for this.

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