The export-import gap may have narrowed in October on the back of rising exports, but container train operators may not see much benefits accruing to them, thanks to high rail haulage charges and slow imports.
Container firms say high rail haulage charges continue to hit their margins, as imports are yet to pick up after the rupee touched a low of Rs 70 to a dollar.
The narrowing gap between exports and imports usually helps container train operators as it ensures cargo availability in both directions. This helps them save costs on repositioning of empty containers.
The October trade gap was lower primarily because of increase in exports to the US and EU. But since most of the exports to the US and Europe had already happened in September-October, ahead of Thanksgiving Day in November-end and early-December, it is not clear whether the trend will continue, said K Sathianathan, Managing Director, Vikram Logistics and Maritime Services, a container train operations company.
“We are yet to see benefits of rupee appreciation in the form of higher imports. There is usually a 1.5 month lag,” said Concor CMD, Anil Gupta, adding that it was too short a period to comment on the overall trend.
Concor is the largest container train operator, accounting for over 75 per cent of market share. It benefitted from the reduction in empty container repositioning costs for the first half-ended September.
Hind Teminals’ LR Thapar said imbalance in exports and imports would continue. Also, traffic has not increased significantly and margins in the business continue to be hit. But, container train operators are waiting for Basmati rice and foodgrain exports to pick up.
For October, the operators moved 3.49 million tonne cargo, which is 2.35 per cent higher than same period last fiscal. For the seven-month period up to October, container train operators moved 24.62 million tonne of cargo, which is up 5.57 per cent over the same period last fiscal.
mamuni.das@thehindu.co.in