As an important indicator, the import and export cargo volume at major ports signifies progress in economic activity. As such, it has been found that the traffic (cargo volume) handled at 12 government-owned major ports during the COVID pandemic is making progress.
Although a reduction of 23.25% was noted in the cargo handled in the month of May as compared to that of last year; in July, the decline came down to 13.23% in comparison to the corresponding period in 2019.
According to the data by the Indian Ports Association, the cargo volume handled by all these ports between April and July was 18.06% less than last year.
During this financial year, the data confirmed that 193.38 million tonnes (MTs) of cargo was handled from 236 MTs a year back.
“There has been a significant revival of cargo traffic at the ports. As economic activities have restarted across the country and globe, we expect more handling of cargo at the major ports,” said an official.
Till June 30, these ports had reported a 19.7% decline in the total cargo handled.
Apart from Mormugao port, the remaining 11 major ports reported volume declines in the April-July compared to the same period in 2019.
Kamarajar port (Ennore) reported the maximum fall of 35.64%.
All the commodities except iron ore including pellets and raw fertilisers witnessed drop in volumes during this financial year. The growth was reported 24.27% more than last year.
According to a recent release by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust( JNPT), the port reported a 19% spike in overall traffic to 4.85 million tonnes in July over June, while container traffic rose to 3,44,316 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) during the same period, registering a growth of 19% over June 2019.
