Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), one of India’s biggest container ports, said it had handled container traffic of 5.05 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), in the January to December 2018 period, representing a growth of 7.24 % over the previous calendar year.
In December 2018, the port handled 4.45 lakh TEUs, the highest container volume handled in a month, ever recorded, JNPT said.
In the April to December 2018 period, which is the first nine months of this financial year, the traffic handled so far is 3.81 million TEUs and with the last quarter of the financial year underway, JNPT expects to exceed the performance of 2017-18, JNPT said.
Bulk cargo
JNPT reported a growth of 8.41% to 8.57 million tonnes in bulk cargo compared with 7.90 million tonnes in the previous calendar year. Liquid cargo’s share rose to 7.54 million tonnes in 2018 compared with 7.01 million tonne in 2017.
All the four terminals of JNPT contributed to the volume growth. While JNPCT handled 11.79 lakh TEUs, APM Terminal recorded 20.77 lakh TEUs. DP World (NSICT and NSIGT) handled a cumulative of 14.60 lakh TEUs and BMCTPL handled 3.34 lakh TEUs in the calendar year 2018.
Increasing volumes
JNPT said it had been consistently improving its volume and turnover and several steps, taken under the ease of doing business and introduction of direct port delivery (DPD) system, have contributed in increasing the volume of traffic at the port.
Already, close to 43% of the cargo handled is routed through DPD system which is not only saving time and cost for the trade, but also elevating JNPT at par with global standards, it said.
JNPT had achieved a record traffic of 4.83 million TEUs for the year ended March 2018 and crossed the ₹1,000-crore profit mark.
