Port traffic at major Indian ports falls by 5% in (Apr-Jun)

All commodities, barring thermal coal, registered a decline
in loading at major ports for the first three months of the current fiscal. The
ports in Apr-Jun handled 138.5 million tonne (mt) of cargo, which is 5.49 per
cent lower than the same period last year.

The trend can be explained due to the weakening rupee, with
India being a net importer of cargo. Moreover, exports could also have been
impacted by the Euro zone crisis and the slowdown in the US.

However, the almost 11 per cent growth in thermal coal
during April-June helped major ports reduce the rate of decline of total cargo
handled, which was at a steeper 5.7 per cent in the April-May period.

Most of the incremental thermal coal arrived at the ports of
Ennore, Paradip, and Mumbai.

Whereas, containerised traffic in June inched closer to that
of June 2011. The ports handled 6.31 million TEU containers in June, against
6.34 millions in the same period last year.

Two ports that reflected an improvement during the trimester
were Kolkata Dock system and Visakhapatnam, with JN Port handling almost the
same level of TEUs.