A growth in handling crude oil and petroleum products has led to growth in overall cargo handling by the Cochin port by 23% during the first quarter of the current financial year The first quarter of 2010-11 brought good news for Cochin Port Trust (CPT), with the port registering a growth rate of a little over 23% in cargo handling as against the same period in 2009-10. Data released by the Indian Ports Association (IPA) revealed the above fact.
In this context, Jijo Thomas, public relations officer of CPT, while speaking to a ShippingBiz360 correspondent, states, “A growth in crude oil and petroleum products handled by the port during the April-June quarter followed by increase in import of products like cement have facilitated growth in cargo handling of the port. Cochin port has also recorded 17% increase in container handling during the April-June quarter of 2010-11.
While sounding quite optimistic when asked whether Cochin port will be able to maintain the growth momentum during the current financial year, Mr Thomas added that a spur in export and import by Kochi Refineries Limited has also boosted overall cargo handling of the port.
 Vallarpadam terminal to further boost port activities
According to experts, commissioning of the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam will provide further fillip to port’s overall cargo handling. According to Winston Vinod Kumar, manager of Geo Logistics, a mid-sized logistics firm in Bengaluru, “Growth in Cochin port’s cargo handling will ease nerves of shipping and logistics firms that were wary of a hike in vessel-related charges by CPT having cascading effects on their business. The increase in cargo handled by the port signals that port activities have not taken a beating.” In April this year, the Tariff Authority of Major Ports had approved CPT’s request to hike vessel-related charges by 40%.
The boost in cargo handling of the port is very encouraging, considering the fact that there has been a significant drop in Baltic Dry Index (BDI) in the last few months, which has concerned shipping fraternity across the world.
Arup Choudhury |
