Barring the Kamarajar Port, a couple of ports in the eastern coast from Krishnapatnam to V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust have failed to achieve their set targets in their total volumes for the year ending March 31, 2014 due to various reasons.
It is a known fact that Kamarajar Port and Krishnapatnam Port have been eating into the volume of Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) in terms of export of cars and import of project cargo and coal. However, ChPT mainstay has been the containers, Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants and project cargoes.
While ChPT has been facing a downward trend for the last three years due to a ban on handling dusty cargoes such as coal and iron ore, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust was affected due to closure of few firms coupled with ban on exports.
According to sources, Kamarajar Port posted biggest jump of 52 per cent in its volume for 2013-14 and it was considered as the biggest among the major ports in the country. The Port handled 27.34 million tonnes (MT) of cargo against its target of 24 MT. Last year, it handled 17.98 MT.
In the case of ChPT, the target of 60 MT was scaled down to 57 MT based on Results Framework Document. But, the Port ended the year with 51.13 million tonnes that was lesser than the previous year output of 53.40 MT. There was a decline in containers volume also from 15.39 lakh Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 14.69 lakh.
Falling rupee affected the import of coal through Krishnapatnam Port during September and October. The Port handled 25.16 MT against the target of 28 MT. Coal was the major commodity accounting for 19.70 MT followed by edible oil, granite, minerals and agri-food products. Containers volume increased from 30,000 TEUs to 58,000 TEUs.
Closure of Sterlite and SPIC units, export ban of granite and commodities to Maldives resulted in a slight dip in the performance of V.O. Chidambaranar Port. The total output for 2013-14 was 28.64 MT against the target of 30 MT. But the Port authorities were happy that they were able to surpass the last year output of 28.26 MT. In terms of containers, the port handled 5.08 lakh TEUs against 4.76 lakh TEUs.
L&T Kattupalli Port, which is still struggling to keep itself afloat, handled 6,000 TEUs of containers and hope that it would increase with the arrival of more number of vessels during the current year.
Marg Karaikal Port handled total volume of 6.24 MT against the target of 7 MT. The Port, which started handling containers since December, has handled 3,000 TEUs.
