In terms of commodity, petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL) constituted the maximum with 18.6 mt compared to 16.57 mt in the first two months of 1998-99. The increase in POL was 12.3 per cent.

The maximum increase was in fertiliser handling which more than doubled. The ports handled 6.62 mt of fertiliser against 2.14 mt during the corresponding period of previous year showing an increase of over 209 per cent.

There was a shortfall of 4.86 per cent and 16.72 per cent in handling iron ore and coking coal, respectively, during this period. The major ports handled 5.86 mt of iron ore against 6.16 mt and 1.51 mt ofcoking coal against 1.81 mt. The fall in quantity of iron ore and coking coal handled is attributed to the world-wide recession in steel industry. During the entire 1998-99, iron ore declined 17.11 per cent to 32.54 mt from 39.26 mt in 1997-98. Coking coal recorded 4.91 per cent fall from 10.85 mt.