The Hindu Business Line : Record cargo handling at Chennai port

The Chennai port had handled an all-time high of 47.25 million tonnes of cargo for the year ending March 31, 2006 surpassing the previous year's record performance of 43.80 mt, an increase of 7.88 per cent. The port, however, fell short of the Union Shipping Ministry's target of 49 mt. The port is hoping to achieve 50 mt during 2006-07, the Chennai Port TrustChairman, Mr K. Suresh, told newspersons.

The port's provisional net surplus during 2005-06 was Rs 140.64 crore (Rs 115.95 crore) on provisional operating income of Rs 430.16 crore (Rs 403.64 crore), he said.During 2005-06, cargo import was 27.20 mt (24.62 mt) and export 20.05 mt (19.18 mt). The growth in import was mainly due to increased manufacturing activities in and around Chennai, he said.

Container handling at Chennai Container Terminal, the private terminal operator, grew by 19.18 per cent to 7.34 lakh TEUs ( 20-foot equivalent units). According to Mr Suresh, the port handled an all-time high of 13.21 mt of POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) in 2005-06 compared to 11.70 mt in the previous year, an increase of 12.90 per cent.

The port trust entered into a 30-year agreement with Indian Oil Corporation and Chennai Petroleum Company Ltd for POL handling through the port. The CPCL is expanding its crude oil refinery capacity to 9.5 mt from 6.5 mt.To cope with this expansion, provision of larger diameter crude oil pipeline of 42-inch against the present 30-inch line within the port premises is planned. CPCL will lay the new pipeline as deposit work for the port, he said. On the second container terminal costing Rs 491.76 crore, Mr Suresh said bids of Port of Singapore Authority, Hutchison and Emirates Trading Agency are being evaluated, and the Centre is yet to give its security clearance for one of the bidders. The project will ultimately increase the port's container handling by eight lakh TEUs a year, he said.

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