Scented candles fuel 35% growth in New Mangalore Port handling

Many of us may not be aware of the fact that the big retail chains in the US get scented wax candles from Mangalore. Manufactured by the Mangalore-based Primacy Industries Ltd at its Baikampady plant on the outskirts of the city, scented wax candles are contribute a significant share to the total container traffic of the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT).

The scented wax candles, which were a new addition to the cargo profile of the port six years ago, recorded a growth of 35.65 per cent during 2010-11. The port handled 1,168 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers during 2010-11, against 861 TEUs in 2009-10.

The movement of wax candles from Mangalore began in 2005-06 with 484 TEUs, when Mr T. Gautham Pai, Chairman of Primacy Industries Ltd, met a business family in the US involved in the home fragrance business.

In one of the interactions recently, Mr Pai told Business Line that the US-based family was looking for manufacturing facilities outside the US.

“I always had a liking for good fragrance products and this made me to explore this opportunity,” he said. 

According to him, the candle manufacturing unit in Mangalore has a capacity to produce around 1,600 containers a year. Produced in Mangalore, these candles are marketed in the US through retail chains such as Wal-Mart, Pier 1, Candle Artisan, Dollar Store, and so on.

Increase in frequency

Asked about the transit time from New Mangalore to the US market, he said it takes around 24 days to reach the destination. However, he stressed the need for increase in the frequency of container ships calling at the port.

For this, the port officials said the frequency of the ships would increase with the increase in the traffic.

All efforts are being to attract more container cargo at the port, they said.

It may be mentioned here that the port handled 40,158 TEUs of containers during 2010-11, against 31,456 TEUs in the previous fiscal.