Port throughput posts modest growth

Between April and February, the country's major ports posted a meagre 1.2 per cent growth at 515 million tonnes (mt) over 509 mt in the same period of the previous fiscal. In 2009-10, the growth was 6 per cent. Strained industrial relations (Cochin, JNPT), congestion (Chennai, Paradip) and drop in iron ore exports (New Mangalore, Paradip) are believed to be responsible for the unsatisfactory growth. The ports of Kandla, Visakhapatnam, Jawaharlal Nehru, Chennai and Mormugao recorded a modest growth in throughputs while New Mangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Paradip and Cochin experienced declines. In volume terms, Kandla topped the list at 75 mt, followed by Visakhapatnam (61.5 mt), JNPT (58.5 mt), Chennai (55.7 mt), Paradip (50.6 mt) and Mumbai ( 49.9 mt). The Shipping Ministry is believed to be aiming for 615 mt for 2011-12 including a container throughput of 11 million TEUs.

The economics of Siberian coal

Is the railway freight cost in Russia very cheap? Yes, according to a top official of a State-owned enterprise in India. The enterprise, it is learnt, is exploring the possibility of importing coking coal from Russia. As the mines are in Siberian region, the coal has to be transported by rail for several thousand kilometres to reach the nearest port. Initially, it is estimated, the annual volume may be five million tonnes, and is likely to go up gradually. Will rail haulage of smaller volume across such a huge distance be cost effective? Those examining the proposal seem convinced about it. As it is pointed out, the railway freight of transporting annually 17-18 million tonnes of iron ore from Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh to Visakhapatnam port over the 450-km Kirandul-Kottavalasa line is higher. In January-February, the Russian rail system handled about 190 mt of freight traffic, up from 176 mt in the same period of 2010, thus posting about 8 per cent growth.

PSA posts throughput growth

A recent report suggests that in 2010, PSA International posted 14.4 per cent growth in throughput at 65.12 million TEUs, over a relatively lower base in 2009. “Our customers performed exceedingly well and their stellar performance helped our group achieve the growth,” the CEO of PSA International has been quoted as saying. It may be interesting to note that PSA International's terminals outside Singapore posted higher growth than its own flagship terminal at Singapore. The throughput of the outside terminals at 37.44 million TEUs posted 17.8 per cent growth while the Singapore terminals handled 27.68 million TEUs recording 10.1 per cent growth. The contributions of volumes from newly commissioned outside terminals such as Busan in South Korea, Chennai in India and Vung Tau in Vietnam have been significant, the report adds.